SOCIOECONOMIC AND TERRITORIAL ASPECTS OF MILK PRODUCTION IN THE SUDOESTE PARANAENSE MESOREGION

Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the socioeconomic and territorial aspects of the Sudoeste Paranaense mesoregion in the context of milk production, between the years 2012 and 2022. Theoretical Framework: This section presents literature concerning data on the environment, climate, and soils, and on the economy of the analyzed mesoregion. Method: The adopted methodology for this research includes a literature review on the environmental and socioeconomic aspects of the mesoregion, mainly collecting data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), with the preparation of tables and maps using geoprocessing software. Results and Discussion: The obtained results indicate the movement of milk production in the mesoregion through maps and show the variation in production in the last decade compared to the state of Paraná and Brazil, in addition to showing data on milk production in the main municipalities. Research Implications: Practical and theoretical implications of this research are discussed, shedding light on the economics of milk production in the Sudoeste Paranaense mesoregion, providing data that can support decision-making regarding the implementation of public policies and guiding the application of resources by stakeholders in the region's milk production chain. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the dairy industry literature by highlighting relevant socioeconomic and environmental aspects of the Sudoeste Paranaense mesoregion, whose agricultural production is of paramount importance, particularly with regard to state and national milk production.


Resultados y Discusión:
Los resultados obtenidos indican el movimiento de la producción de leche en la mesorregión a través de mapas y muestran la variación de la producción en la última década en comparación con el estado de Paraná y Brasil, además de mostrar datos sobre la producción de leche en los principales municipios.
Originalidad/Valor: Este estudio contribuye a la literatura de la industria láctea al destacar aspectos socioeconómicos y ambientales relevantes de la mesorregión Sudoeste Paranaense, cuya producción agrícola es de suma importancia, particularmente en lo que respecta a la producción estatal y nacional de leche.The distribution of land use in the mesoregion was marked by state intervention and, above all, by a cooperative attitude among small and medium-sized farmers, highlighting farming as a fundamental source of income for the regional economy.Local industry, in turn, is structured in the food and, to a lesser extent, wood sectors, focusing on diversification of activities, which has provided GDP growth (PERIN & LIMA, 2019).In addition, the historical interaction with the western regions of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul state, from which there was the expansion of agricultural colonization, influenced the organization of the

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The information at the IBGE municipal level (IBGE, 2024b) and the spatial organization available on Embrapa's GeoInfo platform (GeoInfo, 2024) served as the basis for carrying out the analyzes from the loading of the spatial data sets of the municipalities of the Southwest Paranaense mesoregion, as well as of Paraná and Brazil, both for creating the models of the maps, and for drawing up tables and producing the graphs.
From the data header with the spatial, geographical and tabular information of municipalities, micro and mesoregions for Brazil, data were selected for the mesoregion of interest, with which were added the data of production and herd, providing the preparation of the analyzes and maps.Procedures for selecting, generalizing and generating GIS statistics were adopted to obtain the results.

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE FIELD OF STUDY
The southwestern region of Paranaense is located in the basin of the Paraná River, endowed with a humid subtropical climate, with hot and humid summers and dry winters, and an average annual temperature of 18°C, with maximum of 28°C and minimum of 10°C.The average annual rainfall is around 1,500 mm (3,000 in), being most intense in summer, but with a great rainfall variability.The altitudes of the region range from 100 to 1,000 m, approximately, generally composed of slightly undulating land and deep soils of good fertility, which favors agricultural cultivation.There is a highlight for the cultivation of soybeans, corn and wheat, as well as pig, poultry, and milk cattle, for which the main producing municipalities are pointed out in Figure 1.
The terrain configuration in the mesoregion stands out for its uniformity, characterized by the predominance of flat and slightly undulating surfaces (LIMA et al., 2019).More than half of the area, about 55%, shows a gentle slope, between 0 and 10%, distributed over the whole extension.This favorable topography allows for the development of mechanized agriculture, in line with the appropriate practices for managing and preserving the soil.
However, not all terrain is suitable for mechanization.Flood areas, present in this category, are also part of this band, requiring additional care for their agricultural holding.
The undulating terrain, with a slope of between 10 and 20%, spreads throughout the entire territory and covers 30% of the region.This configuration allows the practice of nonmechanized agriculture and reforestation, but imposes limitations on the use of agricultural machinery due to the susceptibility to erosion.Finally, 15% of the area boasts a strongly undulating relief, with slopes between 20 and 45%, concentrated mainly in the municipalities of Chopinzinho, Coronel Vivida, Saudades do Iguaçu and Sulina.This characteristic of the land makes it unsuitable for mechanized agriculture and imposes severe restrictions on nonmechanized agriculture (IPARDES, 2004).Subsequent operations considered these units of measurement and were organized into digital spreadsheets for analysis.The access key of the Municipal Code, with a verifier digit, was used to connect the tables to the vector file Shapefile, widely used in the Geographic Information System (GIS), such as in ArcGIS, whose data format is fully compatible with this computer program.

PROCEDURES IN THE GIS
After obtaining the milk and milked cows production tables for the selected period, they were integrated into the geographical base of municipalities in the Shapefile digital format, using an access key called the DV-Code.Subsequently, extensive analyzes were carried out, aiming to observe the correct maintenance of the original data obtained from the institutional platforms.
The geographical database was updated and published on Embrapa's GeoInfo Milk Cattle platform.The GeoInfo platform contains metadata, but some spatial files are not yet available for download due to ongoing research projects.However, the Shapefiles have been validated and made available to the general public.The vector base was stylized with the help of the SIG software ArcGIS (ArcGIS, 2024) and the maps were generated from predefined layouts, for the years 2010 and 2020, focusing on the southwest mesoregion Paranaense.In addition, fields of interest, such as productivity, were inserted into the attribute tables and expressions to calculate it were implemented in the SIG.Finally, the tables were exported for the generation of production and productivity time series graphs using spreadsheet software.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Southwest Paranaense mesoregion holds 21.67% of Paraná production, being the second largest producing mesoregion of the state, according to the IBGE.In the last decade, between 2012 and 2022, Southwest Paranaense maintained participation ranging between 21% and 25%.7 However, since 2017 the mesoregion has been losing participation in state production (Table 1).
The production is concentrated in the central portion of the mesoregion, denoting a territorial movement of most of the milk production from the eastern portion in 2012 to the central north-south axis in 2022, after socio-economic transformations in the sector (Figures 2   and 3).The region of the municipalities of Francisco Beltrão, Marmeleiro and Dois Vizinhos almost doubled their milk production, largely because of an improvement in the conditions of production, infrastructure, adoption of farming technology and intensification, and presence of dairy products.In 2022, the average productivity of milked cows in Southwest Paranaense was 11.7% higher than the state average, and 85% higher than the country average.Throughout the series, one can see a superiority of productivity in Southwest Paranaense against the State of Paraná.
The average productivity of Southwest Paranaense is evidently higher than the state and national averages, as observed in the graph.This high productivity indicates that the territorial proximity between Southwest Paranaense and West Santa Catarina could contribute to this characteristic of production.
Looking at the 10 largest milk producing municipalities in the mesoregion, Francisco Beltrão appears as the main one, remaining as major producer between 2012 and 2022, being the first placed in the ranking of 2022 (Table 2).The municipalities of Dois Vizinhos, São Jorge d'Oeste and Planalto also show expansion in their dairy production in the period analyzed, ranking among the Top 10 largest producers in 2022.Other municipalities have also emerged in the last year among the largest milk producers, such as Nova Esperança do Sul, Marmeleiro and Enéas Marques.
The municipalities of Chopinzinho and Pato Branco, which were among the 10 largest in 2012, were removed from the list in 2022, and Capanema, São João and Nova Prata do Iguaçu fell in their positions in the current list, despite slight expansion in dairy production in the period.Thus, analyzing the mesoregion, an increase in milk production is observed over the period analyzed, but with a retraction glimpsed in the course of the series, soon after a jump presented in 2013.It is important to point out that in the last years there has been an increase in production costs, that despite the climatic conditions that have increased, with the increase in the price of inputs and the fall in the price of milk paid to the producer, there has been a pressure for specialization, the adoption of efficient technologies and practices, besides the occurrence of migration/renting of land for other activities such as corn and soybeans.

CONCLUSION
From the analysis of the 10 largest milk producing municipalities of the mesoregion, Francisco Beltrão emerges as the main one, remaining as the largest producer, and the municipalities of Dois Vizinhos, São Jorge d'Oeste and Planalto also show territorial expansion in their milk production between 2012 and 2022.The municipalities of Nova Esperança do Sul, Marmeleiro and Enéas Marques also stand out as the largest dairy producers.Finally, looking at the series of data over the last decade, there is an increase in milk production overall in the mesoregion, but with a downward trend as of 2017.
economy and socioenvironmental dynamics of Southwest Paranaense (RIBEIRO & LIMA, 2022).The mesoregion is located in the domain of the Atlantic Forest biome, with fragments of formations of mixed ombrophilous forest and semi-deciduous stational forest.The region, which holds the fifth largest GDP of the state (IBGE, 2024a), is also important in the services sector, trade and tourism, besides the industrial sector, with emphasis on the metallurgical industry.The participation of the State of Paraná in the national milk production in 2022 was 12.92%, having the second largest production among the states, with 4.47 billion liters of milk (IBGE, 2024b).Among important sectors and municipalities in the recent decade, the municipalities of Saudade do Iguaçu, Pato Branco and Mangueirinha stand out in the region due to GDP per Socioeconomic and Territorial Aspects of Milk Production in the Sudoeste Paranaense Mesoregion ___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.8 | p.1-11 | e08561 | 2024.4 capita driven by energy, dairy (MALAGI & MARINI, 2018) and lumber, respectively (TREVISAN & LIMA, 2010; PERIN & LIMA, 2019).The economic dynamics of the Southwest occur through industry, comprising interregional poles, mainly involving the municipalities of Pato Branco, Francisco Beltrão, and Dois Vizinhos.This is also the foundation of the processing production chain in the food industry, linked and integrated with rural producers and animal protein agro-industry (PERIN & LIMA, 2019).Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze socioeconomic aspects and the geography of dairy production in the region, between 2012 and 2022.

Figure 2
Figure 2 Distribution of municipal milk production in the southeastern Paranaense mesoregion in 2012.Source: IBGE, 2024b.

Table 1
Annual milk production between 2012 and 2022, and the share (%) of Southwest Paranaense mesoregion (Meso) in national (BR) and state (PR) production.Milk production (in 1,

Table 2
Ranking of the main pro2022.g municipalities of SouthwestParanaense, in 2012 and2022.