Alcido Elenor Wander

Evolutionary and social consequences of introgression of nontransgenic herbicide resistance from rice to weedy rice in Brazil

Several studies have expressed concerns about the effects of gene flow from transgenic herbicide‐resistant crops to their wild relatives, but no major problems have been observed. This review describes a case study in which what has been feared in transgenics regarding gene flow has actually changed biodiversity and peoples lives. Nontransgenic imidazolinone‐resistant rice (IMI‐rice) cultivars increased the rice grain yield by 50% in southern Brazil. This increase was beneficial for life quality of the farmers and also improved the regional economy. However, weedy rice resistant to imidazolinone herbicides started to evolve three years after the first use of IMI‐rice cultivars. Population genetic studies indicate that the herbicide‐resistant weedy rice was mainly originated from gene flow from resistant cultivars and distributed by seed migration. The problems related with herbicide‐resistant weedy rice increased the production costs of rice that forced farmers to sell or rent their land. Gene flow from cultivated rice to weedy rice has proven to be a large agricultural, economic, and social constraint in the use of herbicide‐resistant technologies in rice. This problem must be taken into account for the development of new transgenic or nontransgenic rice technologies.

Balanced Scorecard na Análise de Desempenho de um Empresa de Produção de Frutas no Estado de Goiás.

A metodologia de desempenho e gestao de estrategia organizacional, o Balanced Scorecard (BSC), tem destaque por sua difusao na literatura especializada, ampla utilizacao em estudos e pesquisas em empresas brasileiras e simplicidade de utilizacao em analises. No presente estudo, buscou-se propor uma metodologia baseada no BSC, para suporte e gestao estrategica de uma empresa de producao de frutas. Para obtencao dos resultados, o estudo foi de carater descritivo realizado por meio de estudo de caso, com abordagem qualitativa nas analises dos dados. A fonte dos dados utilizada foi de natureza primaria (reuniao com gerentes) e secundaria (documentos gerenciais e relatorios de contabilidade). Por fim, a adaptacao pela produtora de frutos nas linhas mestras do BSC pode auxiliar a empresa para o alcance da estrategia definida, por meio do monitoramento dos pontos criticos para o sucesso da organizacao

Asymmetry in farm-to-retail dry bean price transmission in Sāo Paulo, Brazil

The objective of this paper is to verify the existence of asymmetric price transmission in the farm, wholesale and retail dry bean market in Sāo Paulo, Brazil. The dry bean market is characterised by high price volatility, mainly due to harmful interference from informal actors. Consequently, the prices being practiced at different chain levels have asymmetric transmission, which can be explained by failures in coordination, opportunistic behaviour of farmers and intermediaries, and the asymmetry of information amongst actors within the chain. Our findings confirm those of the existing literature - in situations of asymmetric price transmission, price increases at farm level are more intensely transmitted to wholesalers and retailers than price decreases. Consequently, the common bean market shows inefficiencies in price transmission along the chain, as price increases at farm level generate higher impacts on retail prices, violating the absolute form of purchasing power parity.