Economic viability of forest and agropecuary activities

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the economic viability of different forest and crop cultures and beef cattle in the state of Espírito Santo. Therefore, were chosen data for the cultivation without the use of machinery and with the use of low to medium technology, in order to approach of the reality of small farmers. The selected activities were two forest cultures (eucalyptus and pinus), two crop cultures (cassava and coffee type Conilon) and beef cattle, common in the southeastern region of Brazil. The economic criteria used were Net Present Value (NPV), Infinite Horizon Present Value (NPV ∞ ), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Equivalent Annual Value (EAV). It was found that all the activities, except for the beef cattle, are economically viable, with emphasis on the coffee that presented the greatest values of NPV ∞ (R$ 2.779,77.ha-1), EAV (R$ 277,98.ha-1) and IRR (20,61 %). As for the other cultures, cassava presented the greater economic viability, followed by eucalyptus and pinus. A possible alternative to ensure the economic viability of beef cattle would be to promote the integration farmingcattle raising.