Model For Identification Of Management Degree In Brazilian Coffee Production

In Brazil, coffee is one of the most important crops, particularly regarding job creation and foreign exchange. Since its introduction in the country in 1727, in the North region, the coffee cultivation is spread over much of the Brazilian territory. Over nearly 300 years, coffee production has developed with different costs and competitiveness, resulting mainly from soil and climatic conditions and different levels of technology, international competition and pricing, government incentives, investments in scientific and technological development, as well as different levels of entrepreneurship, which are reflected in the degree of agribusiness management and are extremely important to increase their competitiveness and survival. Cooperatives and the coffee industry consultants have developed systems to assist the farmer in company management, particularly with respect to the systematization of production costs and planning activities for the agricultural year. But the methods developed do not provide information about the level of company management, particularly regarding quality. To overcome this deficiency, this study aims to develop a simple, easy to use and inexpensive method to analyze the points to be improved regarding the management of the property, even if it is not exhaustive. Thus, farmers may adopt foundations, criteria and quality management practices that result in the organization of their companies and contribute to local and regional rural development. This study is centred on rural production, for reflections of the implementation of concepts and practices of agribusiness management, aiming at the obtaining of high quality products, permeate the sector as a whole. This method, named Method of Identification of Management Degree (MIMG), consists of a questionnaire, originally developed for application in cut flowers sector. Later it was used in the production of flowers in pots and hydroponics and after that, adapted to coffee production. A questionnaire was compiled using specific methodologies to collect primary and secondary data, plus the Delphi technique, which was employed to establish priorities and hierarchy of parameters of the management of an agricultural enterprise. This questionnaire was distributed to experts of the coffee sector to rank the parameters, which were transformed into objective questions used to construct a second questionnaire to be filled in by the organizations directly involved in the activity. This questionnaire, associated to a score table, indicates the managerial maturity degree of the organizations and points out the opportunities for process improvements

Validation of the Identification Method of Management Degree (MIGG) using the methodology of focus groups

This study aimed to validate the Identification Method of Management Degree (MIGG) as a tool for diagnosis and intervention, applicable in various activities of agricultural production. The MIGG aims to provide information to producers to enhance their economic activity and turn it into an organized and profitable business over time. Their design aimed to develop a questionnaire for quick and easy application, able to classify the levels of management of economic activities with varying degrees of organization. This classification provides nine levels of management, from the most elementary to the highest, considered excellent. This classification system allows the establishment comparisons between companies, production processes, technological levels and regions. It can also assist in assessing the competitiveness of local arrangements for sustainable regional development. The method includes parameters of leadership, strategy, planning, customers, society, information, knowledge, people, processes and results. It also lets you point strengths and weaknesses and indicate corrective actions to the constant pursuit of quality in the processes. To validate the MIGG, we used the methodology of focus groups, defined as a special type of group interviews. The focus group participants should be connoisseurs of the subject under review and are free to express their opinions. The purpose of the discussion should be well defined to encourage the effective participation of the group in the validation process. Researchers should record the entire interview so they can extract the maximum information from the discussions. To organize the agenda for discussion a researcher acts as moderator, preventing dispersions. The recommended number of participants in a focus group is 10-12 people. In this work, the group was composed of rural entrepreneurs in the coffee sector. All of them are members of the Association of Coffee Growers of Western Bahia (ABACAFÉ), Brazil. These entrepreneurs form a homogeneous group with regard to the technology used in coffee production, particularly regarding the use of irrigation, mechanization of farming and harvesting, and environmental conditions of cultivation. This uniformity is desirable in the use of the methodology of focus groups. Each group participants responded to the questionnaire MIGG, and evaluated the appropriateness and relevance of the parameters that make up this method. From this focus group discussions, adjustments in the wording of some questions were made, but without any need to change their content, which confirmed the validity of the method

Connection Between Technological Trajectory of the Coffee Sector and the Economic Growth of Brazilian Producing Regions

This study examines the relationship between the trajectory of technological innovations in Brazilian coffee regions in the period 1932-2012, with the economic growth and development in those areas. The objective of the study is to provide information to public and private institutions involved in research, development, innovation and extension, as well as to the authorities responsible for preparing the regional development policies and for making decisions regarding the application of financial and human resources. First, we studied the evolution of coffee research and identified the technologies that resulted in break points or key points for sectoral development. For this we conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 researchers, farmers and consultants related to the coffee sector. Second, based on the periods in which the breakpoints were identified, we analyzed the trajectories of innovations in each of the five main Brazilian coffee regions. For this, we developed a structured questionnaire, which was applied to 148 representatives of the coffee sector, by random sampling, for the following periods: ? 1932-1954: the beginning of coffee research at the first break point in the sectoral evolution: the release of the first 'modern' coffee cultivar ? 1955 - 1974: the consolidation of the adoption of this cultivar to the second breakpoint in the sectoral evolution: the release of the second 'modern' cultivar and the beginning of mechanized farming; ? 1975 - 1989: consolidation of mechanization and adoption of those two 'modern' cultivars; ? 1990 - 2000: expanding the use of irrigation in crops; ? 2001 - 2012: emphasis on the final product quality and integrated management of production. To analyze the information from the questionnaire, we used cluster analysis by two-way joining method, in which a graph of color scale is generated, which expresses in the vertical reading the technologies used in the analyzed period, and horizontally, the five periods identified in the survey, for Brazil as a whole and for each of the five Brazilian coffee regions. The results show that in regions where technological innovations were adopted and consolidated, there was an increase in productivity and that socioeconomic indicators are significantly better than in other regions

Comparative Analysis Of Systems For Assessing Regional Impacts Of Innovations Applied To Coffee Production

The importance of education, research and extension institutions, can be evaluated from the socio-economic impacts of their investments, capacity building and training of human resources, services rendered to the community and innovations resulting from their research. The knowledge and technologies generated in these institutions need to be transferred to the respective supply chains and increasingly used, to contribute in its development and environmental preservation. The dimensions of the regional impacts of these technologies is relevant to the strengthening of research institutions and to evaluate and update the guidelines of their programs. There are few studies in this area and most of them are linked to the analysis of the role of universities in the growth of the regions where they are located by calculating multipliers for employment, output and income. The evaluation of the environmental, social and economic impacts is even less significant, and emerged from the concept of sustainable development. In Brazil, progress in this area are derived primarily from studies of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), who developed the systems known respectively Ambitec and ESAC, which in this study on coffee production in Brazil, held by the Agronomic Institute (IAC), are compared mainly from their scope, complexity and cost of implementation. Both consist of the ex-post analysis of the impacts of a particular technology and are built based on criteria and indicators. The application of those two systems indicated that the ESAC system involves a more complex software, and quantitative aspects more sophisticated than the Ambitec, and its use requires more intensive training of staff than Ambitec. A major difficulty of the analysis of impact assessments is to isolate the individual effects of technologies, effects resulting from their interactions with technologies developed by other R & D institutions, or even imported. The ability of the researcher to apply the questionnaires may reduce this problem. But the system ESAC presents an important advantage over the Ambitec because it considers two very important aspects for the analysis of impacts: the impacts resulting from the interactions between different technologies and the time elapsed between the development of technology and its adoption by the productive sector

Employment generation in Brazilian coffee regions

Due to the specific characteristics of coffee production on each of the main Brazilian states producers of arabica (Coffea arabica) and robusta coffee (Coffea canephora), a better understanding of the structural links between production and industrialization of coffee on those states and the national economy can provide subsides for implementation of public policies, essential to plan the coffee production and increase the sector competitiveness. Therefore, this study analyzed the employment generation in production and coffee industrialization in the major Brazilian production regions, based on an inter-regional input-output model, with seven regions, which represent the main coffee-producing states - Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, São Paulo, Paraná, Bahia and Other States - with 44 sectors each, in a system of 308 sectors. The results indicated that the production of robusta coffee is the sector that generates more employments (total) per currency unit, and that arabica production sector is the fourth largest generator of employments, among the 44 sectors considered for the country. The results for each state emphasized the importance of farming and coffee industry for national and state economies.Coffee; Coffee Production; Input-Output

Relevance of management practices for support of Brazilian farming business growth and the regional development

The farmers spend much of their time with technical issues and routine tasks related to the production process. The administrative aspects of rural activities are usually relegated to a second plane. Thus, planning, information and knowledge acquisition, and development of strategies for relations with customers, society and collaborators ? employees or family members ? are harmed, which can compromise the activity. Empower the rural entrepreneurs to assimilate and apply concepts of competitiveness, quality and management, replacing the simple profit idea, is a challenge. The concern for quality management has grown continuously among companies from different economic sectors since the 1950s. For agricultural organizations, to create internal management mechanisms is also very important, from the improvement of agricultural processes to the placement of the product on market. This study analyzes the relationship between the management level of Brazilian farms with land structure, with production system,number of workers on the farm, county, producing region and with certification or not of production. To assess the management level in agricultural organizations ? farms ? we used the Method of Identification of Management Degree, MIGG, for coffee segments, cut flowers and horticulture, including hydroponic production in Brazil. The MIGG can contribute, in an organized manner, for making decisions as to structural changes, and to obtain superior quality products. The results obtained from questionnaires applied from 2010 to 2014 support the view that, despite the technical expertise in cultivation, the agricultural business management is still primitive and intuitive in most cases. In organizations with lower management degree, it was observed that the decision-making are not based on methods that enable a systematic reproduction of processes. In organizations where we have identified high levels of management, it was noted that management practices were integrated into modern farming practices, regardless of company size. In the coffee sector, with larger sample, we observed that in the West region of Bahia state, and in Cerrado region of Minas Gerais state, the management degrees are high and the production processes ? based on intensive use of modern technology ? are quite homogeneous and accompanied by very high yield and quality, compared to other coffee regions. Such practices have contributed to the increase of competitiveness of these organizations and to the development of those regions

A Role for the SmpB-SsrA System in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Pathogenesis

Yersinia utilizes a sophisticated type III secretion system to enhance its chances of survival and to overcome the host immune system. SmpB (small protein B) and SsrA (small stable RNA A) are components of a unique bacterial translational control system that help maintain the bacterial translational machinery in a fully operational state. We have found that loss of the SmpB-SsrA function causes acute defects in the ability of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis to survive in hostile environments. Most significantly, we show that mutations in smpB-ssrA genes render the bacterium avirulent and unable to cause mortality in mice. Consistent with these observations, we show that the mutant strain is unable to proliferate in macrophages and exhibits delayed Yop-mediated host cell cytotoxicity. Correspondingly, we demonstrate that the smpB-ssrA mutant suffers severe deficiencies in expression and secretion of Yersinia virulence effector proteins, and that this defect is at the level of transcription. Of further interest is the finding that the SmpB-SsrA system might play a similar role in the related type III secretion system that governs flagella assembly and bacterial motility. These findings highlight the significance of the SmpB-SsrA system in bacterial pathogenesis, survival under adverse environmental conditions, and motility

Management indicators of productive arrangements in Brazilian Coffe segment : a multiple correspondence analysis

Orientador: Gustavo de Oliveira AggioDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de EconomiaResumo: Em função da crescente diversificação das estratégias competitivas no segmento cafeeiro, decorrentes da instabilidade dos preços do café, bem como da expansão do mercado de cafés especiais e da importância socioeconômica do café para os produtores, este estudo analisa se a adoção de uma das estratégias genéricas de Porter por um empresário rural está relacionada com um sistema de gestão eficiente e se esses resultados são perceptíveis nas principais mesorregiões cafeeiras brasileiras. Foram avaliadas 1122 empresas cafeeiras, entre 2014 e 2017, em 233 municípios, em 80 microrregiões e 35 mesorregiões geográficas brasileiras. O nível de gestão daquelas empresas foi obtido mediante o Método de Identificação do Grau de Gestão - MIGG Café. A técnica de Análise de Correspondência Múltipla - ACM foi utilizada para reduzir as dimensões necessárias para analisar as combinações das variáveis qualitativas. Observou-se que as regiões que passaram ou passam por um processo de especialização na produção de café, com nível tecnológico mais elevado e diferenciação em termos de qualidade de grãos e de bebida, possuem melhor gestão, ou seja, as mesorregiões que adotaram uma estratégia genérica de diferenciação (pela definição de Porter) apresentam gestão mais eficiente e resultam em produtos de melhor qualidadeAbstract: Due to the increasing diversification of competitive strategies in the coffee segment, resulting from instability in coffee prices and the expansion of the specialty coffee market and socio-economic importance of coffee to the producers, this study examines whether the adoption of one of the generic strategies of Porter by a rural entrepreneur is related to an efficient management system and if these results are perceptible in the main Brazilian coffee mesoregions. A total of 1122 coffee companies were evaluated between 2014 and 2017 in 233 municipalities, in 80 micro-regions and 35 geographic Brazilian mesoregions. The level of management of coffee companies was obtained through the Management Degree Identification Method (MDIM Coffee). The Multiple Correspondence Analysis (ACM) technique was used in order to reduce the dimensions necessary to analyze the possible combinations of the qualitative variables. It was observed that the regions that have passed through a process of specialization in the coffee production, with a higher technological level and differentiation as to grain quality and coffee beverage, have better management, that is, the mesoregions that adopted a generic differentiation strategy based on Porter present more efficient management and result in better quality productsMestradoEconomia Agrícola e do Meio AmbienteMestre em Desenvolvimento EconômicoCAPE

Yersinia Controls Type III Effector Delivery into Host Cells by Modulating Rho Activity

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis binds to β1 integrin receptors, and uses the type III secretion proteins YopB and YopD to introduce pores and to translocate Yop effectors directly into host cells. Y. pseudotuberculosis lacking effectors that inhibit Rho GTPases, YopE and YopT, have high pore forming activity. Here, we present evidence that Y. pseudotuberculosis selectively modulates Rho activity to induce cellular changes that control pore formation and effector translocation. Inhibition of actin polymerization decreased pore formation and YopE translocation in HeLa cells infected with Y. pseudotuberculosis. Inactivation of Rho, Rac, and Cdc42 by treatment with Clostridium difficile toxin B inhibited pore formation and YopE translocation in infected HeLa cells. Expression of a dominant negative form of Rac did not reduce the uptake of membrane impermeable dyes in HeLa cells infected with a pore forming strain YopEHJT−. Similarly, the Rac inhibitor NSC23766 did not decrease pore formation or translocation, although it efficiently hindered Rac-dependent bacterial uptake. In contrast, C. botulinum C3 potently reduced pore formation and translocation, implicating Rho A, B, and/or C in the control of the Yop delivery. An invasin mutant (Y. pseudotuberculosis invD911E) that binds to β1 integrins, but inefficiently transduces signals through the receptors, was defective for YopE translocation. Interfering with the β1 integrin signaling pathway, by inhibiting Src kinase activity, negatively affected YopE translocation. Additionally, Y. pseudotuberculosis infection activated Rho by a mechanism that was dependent on YopB and on high affinity bacteria interaction with β1 integrin receptors. We propose that Rho activation, mediated by signals triggered by the YopB/YopD translocon and from engagement of β1 integrin receptors, stimulates actin polymerization and activates the translocation process, and that once the Yops are translocated, the action of YopE or YopT terminate delivery of Yops and prevents pore formation

UMA PERSPECTIVA DA GESTÃO DA SEGURANÇA E DA SAÚDE OCUPACIONAL NA PRODUÇÃO BRASILEIRA DE CAFÉ

A agricultura é um dos setores mais perigosos aos trabalhadores, expostos a riscos físicos, químicos, biológicos, ergonômicos e sujeitos a acidentes. Devido à importância dos impactos sociais e econômicos dos problemas decorrentes da baixa adoção de medidas de Segurança e Saúde no Trabalho (SST) na produção agrícola e considerando-se que o segmento cafeeiro emprega quantidade significativa de mão de obra, este estudo identifica os pontos fracos da produção de café em relação às normas brasileiras de SST. Foram analisados 24 indicadores de gestão do agronegócio café relacionados à SST, por meio de 1030 questionários aplicados nas regiões produtoras brasileiras. Os principais pontos fracos são: baixa oferta de seguro de saúde aos colaboradores; baixo índice de planejamento quanto às atividades das empresas, incluindo análise de risco e melhorias no ambiente e condições de trabalho; baixa adoção de Código de Conduta e estímulo à sua aplicação na cadeia produtiva; e baixo índice de registros e protocolos de procedimentos das tecnologias, métodos e processos. São Paulo é o estado com os melhores níveis de adoção dos indicadores de SST; a Bahia apresenta os piores. Empresas com certificação agrícola apresentaram melhores resultados do que as demais. Ainda há muito a que ser melhorado na gestão do negócio do café, com relação à SST, independentemente da região, do tamanho da propriedade ou do número de trabalhadores