AGRICULTURA FAMILIAR NO RIO GRANDE DO SUL E PRÁTICAS SUSTENTÁVEIS RELACIONADAS: uma taxonomia da atividade

The purpose of this study is to categorize and evaluate the performance of family farming in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and its connections with Sustainable Regional Development (SRD) practices, showing the impact of this activity on food production. Data from the 2017 Agricultural Census is used to develop a geographical taxonomy of this activity. In addition, univariate and multivariate quantitative analysis methods (ANOVA and MANOVA), hierarchical clustering and k-means are used to classify and evaluate the performance of the identified groups. At the end of the analysis, four clusters were identified and their performance measured in relation to the variables of employment, income, area, market share and sustainability. This showed that the state has a small group of highly productive municipalities, a medium-sized group that adopts sustainable production practices, a group specialized in niche production and a large group with low production for the parameters assessed.