Bibliographic about Brazilian milk production efficiency

Abstract

Milk production in Brazil has experienced some improvements in recent decades. However, there is great heterogeneity among the farmers, Brazilian dairy productivity is below the largest producing countries and trade balance of the dairy sector is negative in Brazil. Moreover, milk production has generate negative impacts into the environment. In this context, this paper aims to analyze, organize, compare and discuss the different studies carried out to calculate technical, economic and/or environmental efficiency of milk production in Brazil, by using a systematic review of the literature. Among the findings, the following are worthy to mention: (1st) there is a large number of studies considering milk production efficiency in the state of Minas Gerais, however, few studies have been carried for other Brazilian states; (2nd) three methods have been used to measure efficiency (stochastic frontier analysis, data envelopment analysis and accounting analysis); (3rd) there is a lack of studies related to efficiency environment; (4th) most of the studies show the inefficiency in the Brazilian milk production, despite some specific regions show efficiency in this activity. At the end, the article suggests possible new issues to be explored in future studies.