Abstract

GARCIA FERREIRA, R; TOMMASINO, H; MARZAROLI, J  and  GUTIERREZ, R. Impact of collective strategies on the sustainability of family dairy systems in Uruguay. Pastos y Forrajes [online]. 2011, vol.34, n.1, pp. 109-119. ISSN 0864-0394.

In recent years, the unsustainability processes undergone by small scale family dairy systems have been an important concern for farmer guilds and intervention and research teams. The Association of Dairy Producers San José, Uruguay, and different university teams have developed experiences of rural development and support to production, tending to improve the income levels and living standards of these families, enhancing collective processes as countertrends to this central process. The objective of this work was to analyze the sustainability status of family dairy systems of the San José Department, considering the social, economic and agroecological dimensions; an evaluation methodology was applied through sustainability indicators in 100 of these systems and the influence of the use and adoption of collective strategies to support production was analyzed. Among the main results, it stands out that the systems which incorporated more collective strategies (three or more) showed high values, in general, for several of the productive and economic indicators (an increase of 66% in the predial income per capita, 39% in liters/ha and 73% in CP/ha as average) than those that adopted the strategies in an isolated way (only one). It is concluded that the analysis of these 100 establishments indicates to continue the generation and study of this type of collective strategies, which mainly serve as alternatives in the generation of countertrends that can decrease, buffer or revert the disappearance and degradation of family dairy systems as social group.

Keywords : Dairy; family production; sustainability.

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