A Agricultura familiar no município de água Santa – RS: um estudo de caso dos indicadores agropecuários, estratégias de diversifica o e autoconsumo em duas unidades de produ o

In recent decades, agricultural and agrarian transformations have placed emphasis on the family production units. In Brazil, family farming is responsible for 4,367,902 establishments representing 84.4% of properties in the country (Census of Agriculture 2006). In the State of Rio Grande do Sul household production reaches 378,546 establishments in an area of 6,171,622 ha. In this context, this study examines indicators of family farming production in the municipality of Agua Santa (municipality which includes 85% of family farms). We characterized the relations of production and the production strategies through analysis of two family production units. Among the results we emphasize that the family units have distinctive characteristics that minimize the exodus of producers. Factors such as the colonization enabled producers to develop forms of association alongside the diversification for trade and the self-consumption, coming to meet the new maintenance strategies of producers in the field