Minimum price guarantee policy for araucaria seed

Abstract

Seed of Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze species, known as pinhão, is very present in the Paraná Southeast and South Center mesoregions, being considered one of the leading non-timber forest products (NTFP) in Paraná, after erva-mate, in terms of production level and value of production itself. Producers of pinhão do not have the exact dimension of the change in market prices. When prices of pinhão increase, they believe that sell prices will remain high and move their resources to increase production. A disorderly trade practice can cause loss, related to the pinhão production costs and selling price by producers. The minimum price guarantee policy (MPGP) consists in a system of anticipated prices established by the Federal Government, whose function is to reduce or transfer to the community the uncertainty faced by farmers in planting or harvesting. The objectives of this study are: to analyze the economy of pinhão in the Paraná Southeast and South Center mesoregions to support the structuring of the production chain; and to analyze the producers´ sell prices in relation to production costs to include pinhão in the list of products benefiting from the MPGP.