Applying technology transfer to improve the technical knowledge and milk quality related to family farm producers

Abstract

Milk production has a significant contribution in the family farm activity and it is considered a good source of monthly income and this contribution may be evidenced by the high percentage of the amount of milk produced in Brazil related to family farming. However, recently the goal is not only milk production, but to produce a milk with quality. Quality instruction is referenced by federal regulations, but most important is the requirement for minimum quality standards for dairy plants to maximize their production and increase export. The demand made by the industry's strongest point is to pay for milk quality. Therefore, the improvement of milk quality by producers is crucial. For reach the quality, the main principle is applying technologies and in the case of milk production, applying technologies to improve milk quality and milk production related to sustainability of dairy farms. Technology transfer allows bringing scientific knowledge to society in the form of services, products and processes. The objective of this study is the evaluation of technology transfer to family farm producers aiming to improve milk quality through training, diagnosis and monitoring the application of the technical suggested for milk producers. This experiment will be conducted with 550 dairy farms to identify some characteristics from all milk producers in relation to family farm producers in the cities close to Ribeirao Preto, all producers are linked to a Milk Cooperative or a governmental program to milk production CATI LEITE/SAA/SP. After the identification of family farm producers, there will be sampling of 160 producers, where 80 will receive training in the form of theoretical and practical explanation in according to their needs for improving the milk quality and 80 will not be trained. At the day of training, tests will be performed to quantify the technical knowledge of the training topic and milk quality. All 160 producers will be monitored and evaluated monthly during 12 months through technical visits of technical assistants and trainees. Technical visits will be conducted to collect data and milk samples for monitoring the milk quality and the use of the techniques suggested during the training. After 12 months, all producers trained will be questioned again on the technical knowledge and milk quality and presented the result of milk quality project. This project aim to describe some characteristics from milk producers in special family farm producers in the region of Ribeirao Preto city; to correlate milk quality produced by these producers in relation to all producers linked to a milk cooperative, to evaluate the benefit of training and monitoring (technical assistance) to improve the milk quality, and finally, to classified which farm and/or producer characteristics are related to improve of milk quality and transfer of technical knowledge. (AU)