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Rice is the basis of diet for almost half of the world population, and its culture is one of the strategic agroindustrial production chains in the agribusiness environment, in both economic and social levels. Thus, the comparative analysis between the production chains of rice milled in Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil, and Uruguay was mainly motivated by the interest in knowing the differences in the business environment and public policies that impact the competitiveness of this chain in both study regions. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the economic efficiency, competitiveness, and effects of public policies of the rice production chain of milled rice in RS (Brazil) relative to Uruguay. The data collected in this study are from the 2011-2012 harvests and indicators were calculated by applying the concepts of the policy analysis matrix (PAM). Results showed that the chains in both study regions were competitive under the existing market and policy conditions, revealed comparative advantage, transferred a high load of resources to other sectors of the economy, and satisfactorily remuneration of the domestic production factors. However, the competitiveness and comparative advantage shown in this study were not due to the encouraging intervention policies, as both production systems pay high taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aimed at analyzing competitiveness of three whole milk powder production chains in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) with three different technological levels (low, medium and high) of raw material production using Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) methodology, developed by Monke and Pearson (1989). The results showed that all of the production chains studied generated earnings in the form of both private profits (i.e. the remuneration of the agents is higher than the opportunity costs and investment depreciation) and social profits (i.e. there are economic effectiveness and comparative advantages). The production chain with the medium technological production level, in which the use of production inputs was intensive, suffered more penalizing effects of taxation policies than the chains showing lower indices of modern input adoption, according to the values of Private Cost Ratios (PCRs), which were the following: 0.72, 0.46, and 0.26, for medium, low and high technological raw material production levels, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural and livestock sector has caused approximately 24% of total greenhouse gas emissions (GEE) in Brazil in 2017. In 2009, the Brazilian administration established sectorial plans for the mitigation of climatic changes. The Agricultural Plan for Low Carbon (ABC) and the ABC Program are responsible for target projections to mitigate climatic changes and financial incentives for their implementation. Current paper investigates whether available credit for this public policy is being used in technological processes with great potential for the mitigation of GEEs. Secondary sources of data on the amount of credit of ABC program and GEE emissions have been researched. The historical series of emissions revealed that, within agricultural activities, enteric fermentation of animals and the use of agricultural soil are the main causes of GEEs, with almost 86% of emissions. Results also demonstrated that, within seven priority areas, one has specially received highest investment rates, or rather, the recovery of degraded pastureland, with approximately 30% of investments. Further, 15% of amounts initially projected by the ABN program have been available and only 9% have been effectively spent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]