DETERMINING INDICATORS OF URBAN HOUSEHOLD WATER CONSUMPTION THROUGH MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES

Water has a decisive influence on populations’ life quality – specifically in areas like urban supply, drainage, and effluents treatment – due to its sound impact over public health. Water rational use constitutes the greatest challenge faced by water demand management, mainly with regard to urban household water consumption. This makes it important to develop researches to assist water managers and public policy-makers in planning and formulating water demand measures which may allow urban water rational use to be met. This work utilized the multivariate techniques Factor Analysis and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis – in order to determine the participation level of socioeconomic and climatic variables in monthly urban household consumption changes – applying them to two districts of Campina Grande city (State of Paraíba, Brazil). The districts were chosen based on socioeconomic criterion (income level) so as to evaluate their water consumer’s behavior. A 9-year monthly data series (from year 2000 up to 2008) was utilized, comprising family income, water tariff, and quantity of household connections (economies) – as socioeconomic variables – and average temperature and precipitation, as climatic variables. For both the selected districts of Campina Grande city, the obtained results point out the variables “water tariff” and “family income” as indicators of these district’s household consumption

Genesis and development of integrated tomato production in the irrigated areas of Petrolina and Juazeiro.

Neste trabalho, o autor analisa os elementos que permitem entender a gênese e desenvolvimento da produção integrada do tomate industrial nas áreas irrigadas do Dipolo Petrolina (Pe) e Juazeiro (Ba). Neste sentido, busca-se compreender como formou-se, historicamente, a estrutura fundiária, as estratégias industriais e a natureza dos produtores agrícolas modernizados. A produção do tomate industrial nesta região resulta de um deslocamento desta atividade que originariamente se localizava no Centro-Sul do país. O seu desenvolvimento alçou o Dipolo à condição de principal pólo produtor desta cultura. Que fatores explicam o deslocamento da atividade agroindustrial do tomate? Qual a natureza dos capitais que constituem as processadoras no Dipolo, e que estratégias balizam os seus investimentos? Quem é este produtor modernizado; particularmente, quem é este produtor familiar modernizado? Como caracteriza-se a organização do processo produtivo e que relações estabelece com a indústria e o Estado? Quais as perspectivas de desenvolvimento da produção integrada? Estas são algumas das questões tratadas neste texto, onde os argumentos que vão sendo apresentados constituem um questionamento das concepções fundadas nas teses do Complexo Agroindustrial, acerca da integração agricultura-indústria e do moderno produtor familiar, elementos constitutivos do novo padrão agrícola, aqui estudado.In this work, the author analizes the elements that allow us to understand the genesis and development of the integrated production of industrial tomato in irrigated areas of Petrolina / Juazeiro cities. To do this, he tried to understand how the fundiary structure was historiacally formed, the industrial strategies and the modern agricultural producers nature. The production of industrial tomato in this region was the result of its deslocament from the meridional region of Brazil. Its development led the Dipolo area to become the main producer of this culture. Which are the reasons that explain the migration of the tomato agroindustrial activity ? What kind is the nature of the capitals that constitute the manufacturers in the Dipolo area and what strategies determine the amount of their investiments ? Who is this modernized producer ? How is the organization of the procuctive process characterized and what kind of relationships does it maintain with the industry and state ? Which are the perspectives of the integrated production development ? These are some issues focused in this work. The arguments that are introduced constitute a querying of the conceptions based on the Agroindustrial Complex thesis about the integration between two elements of the new agricultural pattern: Agriculture / Industry and the modern familiar producer