Economic feasibility of organic fertilizer production for agricultural settlements in northern Mato Grosso State

Abstract

This article analyzes the economic feasibility of producing organic fertilizer for agricultural sett lements in the northern region of Mato Grosso. The agricultural model adopted and diffused after the Green Revolution led to the increased use of pesticides, fertilizers and mechanization, the expansion of major crops with monoculture, reduced the level of rural employment, increased the concentration of land ownership, and thereby accelerated the exodus of small farmers to large urban centers. The exhaustion of the model known as the Green Revolution points to the need for sustainable agriculture in order to respond positively in a feasible manner from the economic, ecological and environmental point of view. In this sense, organic farming is a holistic system of production management that promotes and enhances the health of the agro-ecosystem and particularly biodiversity, the cycles and biological activity of soils. The article shows that the use of inputs previously spurned from an environmental and economic point of view makes it possible to produce low cost fertilizer to implement the development of agricultural (organic) activities in key sectors such as family farming. The possibility of producing at lower costs using instruments from an ecological type tends to promote the permanence of small farmers in the production process. It demonstrates that such an alternative is economically feasible from the reality seen in the northern region of Mato Grosso.

Key words: economic viability, organic fertilizer, family farming, organic production.