Social Responsibility in the Use of Pesticides: The Case of Brazilian Agribusiness

The objective of this study is to characterize and analyze the farmers and commercial personnel's actions with relation to the social responsibility of pesticides' commercialization in the South Region of Brazil, specifically in the region of Caxias do Sul. Companies whose principles are based on the social responsibility and social environmental consciousness are usually more respected by customers, suppliers and the society in general. The research method is exploratory and the data was obtained by 90 questionnaires applied to farmers and 30 to employees of pesticides supplier companies in Caxias do Sul. The results have shown that despite some positive factors, many negative factors still prevail with respect to social responsibility, such as a deficiency in the companies' human resources management