Transformations and perspectives in the fluminense dairy industry

The dairy production chain is one of the largest segments of agribusiness, generating significant employment and income for many producers in Brazil. In this sense, the objective of this study was to present a set of information on dairy farming in the state of Rio de Janeiro and its behavior over the years (1974 to 2020). Using data obtained from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), it was possible to evaluate the performance of the activity in the South Fluminense mesoregion compared to other mesoregions of Rio de Janeiro. The data were processed using MS-Excel® spreadsheets and analyzed using descriptive statistics methodology. The variables evaluated were: milk production; number of cows milked; productivity; and number of agricultural establishments. After analyzing the overall panorama of Rio de Janeiro, it was found that the South Fluminense mesoregion stood out in state milk production. Given this, an individual analysis of the performance of the Southern Fluminense region was carried out, verifying that, despite not being the mesoregion with the largest number of producers or dairy cows, it had been gaining more ground and achieving higher productivity. It was concluded, therefore, that dairy farming in the Southern Fluminense mesoregion stood out in the state for its increasing productivity, even though it did not have the largest number of producers or dairy cows.