Água como fator de crescimento econômico: um estudo de caso da agropecuária nos municípios da bacia do Paraná III

Abstract

This paper examines water as factor of economic growth in the municipalities of Paraná Basin III located in the western region of Paraná, from the region's main economic activity is agriculture. To this end, it was estimated that the basin water availability, water demand for irrigation and livestock, and finally estimate the production function of the sector with three production factors (capital, labor and water resources). The theoretical framework relied on the theory of sustainable development of Sachs. On the other hand also presents a descriptive analysis of the socioeconomic structure of the twenty-eight counties of the basin. This scenario revealed that the main productive activities in the area are soybeans, corn, poultry and swine, which are heavily concentrated in the cities of Cascavel and Toledo. These cities also account for a significant portion of the population and GDP of the basin. In short, the hydrologic modeling applied revealed a satisfactory water availability to fulfill the demand of water in agriculture, while pointing out that the municipalities of Cascavel and Toledo in that period had the highest participation in agricultural production, were also the most water consumed in the production process . As a corollary proved to be some critical points in water quality in the basin, mainly in the municipalities of Cascavel and Toledo Marechal Cândido Rondon, where the swine and poultry are more dynamic. And all these factors corroborate the idea that the problem of water resources in the region is related to the quality of this resource. Revealing that on the one hand the levels of environmental sustainability in the area are alarming and the other water quality can affect the long-term dynamics of this river basin farming, as well as the expansion of its economy. Finally, the classical production function, at first revealed an inefficient allocation of resources in agricultural production, resulting in diminishing returns. And a second time pointed out that capital is the most widely used factor of production in the field of agriculture. Meanwhile water resources complement the efficiency of capital, and bearing accounts, together with other factors of economic growth in the region.