Ceasa e intermediários na comercialização de hortigranjeiros em Campina Grande.

Abstract

The present study had as main objective to verify if the CEASA of Campina Grande has been contributing to eliminate or to attenuate the action of intermediaries in the process of commercialization of horticultural products. The starting point for this investigation was the observation that, in general, producers and consumers generally believe that margins of marketing are always unjustifiably high, and that intermediaries always adjust their margins to any variation in demand or supply at the expense of their own producers and consumers. The main topics analyzed were: marketing margins, their variations and trends, applications of markups in the wholesale and retail segments of the market and production and marketing structures of the selected products. In order to make a comparative analysis, the historical price series considered were separated into two, indicative of the periods before and after the implementation and operation of CEASA / CG. The data required for the study were collected from the SIMA-Agricultural Market Information Service, CEASA- Central of Supply S / A of Campina Grande and João Pessoa, EMATER- Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company and CEPA- State Commission for Agricultural Planning of Paraíba. The products selected for study were pineapple, potato and tomato, commercialized in Campina Grande through CEASA, in the period 1977-1980. The criteria adopted for this selection were: share of total marketed volume, product origin and concentration of production. The study revealed that the total margins of commercialization of the three products did not decrease significantly, except for pineapple, after CEASA had been installed in Campina Grande. It also revealed that those responsible for the drop in margins were: a) for pineapple, the wholesale and retail markets, with a greater weight for the first; b) for the potato, the wholesale market; c) for the tomato, the retail market. The average marketing margin was for pineapples, high in the period 1972-1976 and low in the period 1977-1981; for the batatinha, was elevated in both periods, the same occurring for the tomato. As for the trends of the margins, those of the wholesale and retail, for the pineapple, were increasing for the period 1972-1976 and decreasing for the period 1977-1981; for the potato, both were increasing for the whole period, although the average of the wholesale has been reduced in the second period and, for the tomato, the ones of the retail one were increasing and those of the wholesale one decreasing in the first period, and vice versa in the second . With regard to markups, in general, the retail market was the one that made the most applications, placing the tomato sector in the first place, followed by the batatinha and the pineapple. The wholesale market contributed to the reduction of the markups, placing first the pineapple sector, followed by the tomato and the batatinha. The analysis showed, finally, that the intermediaries are the biggest beneficiaries of horticultural marketing, precisely those that carry out the integration of production and marketing activities. The action of CEASA has only strengthened such agents, without measures being adopted to obtain changes in the production and marketing processes that aim to make the path to be traveled less by horticultural products from producers to consumers. In order to reach future positive results in this sense, it is recommended to adopt an economic policy strategy such that the commercialization of horticultural crops is carried out in a more efficient and productive manner, observing specific conditions of demand and supply and the activity itself production. This work did not extend beyond the limitations already clarified, however, it points out several avenues for the elaboration of new studies that determine formulations of policies generating higher level of economic and social welfare.