Sustainability in Soybean Production from the Perspective of the Producers

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the sustainability in the context of soybean cultivation by the cultivators’ perspective. The research is descriptive, with quantitative evidences operationalized through the application of questionnaires to a sample of soybean producers in the state of Rio Grande do Sul/Brazil. It was executed descriptive analysis of the profiles of the soybean farmers and the properties and technical-agronomic aspects profiles, then subsequently, a correlation analysis between variables from the producers and properties profiles with the environmental, social and economic of sustainability dimension. By the result of the research, it was observed that the majority of soybean producers have been doing this work for 30 years, with low schooling. In addition, regarding the structure of the properties, the area intended for soybeans varies in the sample from 5 to 2,300 hectares, with 25.1% of producers allocating more than 296 hectares for this cultivation. In the production process, it was noticed that most producers use different inputs, such as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and fertilizers, besides the care with the soil through the use of no-tillage system and search from crop diversification. In producers’ perspective of the sustainability, it is identified some significant associations between certain producers’ profiles and property variables with environmental, economic and social topics. However, the evidences, it is suggested a wariness from these analyses, since there is a disagreement in the literature on sustainability in agricultural activities, such as soybeans, because of the complexity of assessing the performance of farmer perception and sustainability indicators.