Sustainability of family production agroecosystems: an assessment with use of indicators in public irrigation perimeters of northern Bahia

Abstract

This article presents the assessment of the sustainability of the agroecosystems of family production
in the form of public irrigation perimeters, implemented by the Federal Government, in
the São Francisco River Valley. The objective was to contribute to the reflection on the need
to use sustainability indicators in development processes. The descriptive study consisted of
bibliographical, documentary and field research, with observation and interviews. The IDS (S3)
- biogram method, developed by Sepúlveda (2008), was used as support for data analysis. As
a result, it was concluded that the Curaçá, Maniçoba and Mandacaru agroecosystems presented
an “unstable” state of sustainability and Pedra Branca a “critical” state, evidencing the lack
of formulation of development strategies supported by multidimensional analyzes.