No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseJGCFM.pdf: 1381165 bytes, checksum: b306b0c402f6673a8ea64e2f8db0bd1c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-10 / Information Technology (IT) starts to play an important role in the day-by-day, changing the way the cattlemen manage their properties. IT affects business management as it allows for search, access, storage and dissemination of information, improving the decision-making process. Besides softwares and agribusiness websites, IT includes electronic devices for storage of sanitary, nutricional and genetic information; television channels and telecommunications structure. This research aimed to study the use and the diffusion of IT in the beef cattle breeding, from the analysis of the factors that have influenced its adoption; to describe resources, procedures and necessary actions for IT operation; to segment (classify) rural enterprises by their technological level; and to elaborate suggestions to intensify the IT uses in the cattle breeding business. The research was performed in two stages, quantitative and qualitative. In the first stage, a survey with producers was performed. Information concerning the different technologies adopted and the attitudes taken with IT, enabled to identify the level of innovativeness of producers. It was possible to classify them by the similarities of the technological position. The second stage analyzed experiences, opinions and perspectives regarding the technology integrated to the productive system. Two properties were analyzed by each category, totalizing ten case studies, by personal interviews. The results indicated the reasons of the adoption or rejection of a certain IT by the producers, allowing for the identification of the reasons why some producers have adopted it more quickly than others. It was possible to understand the modifications in the rural organization due to IT adoption, as, for example, improvement in managerial skills. Altogether, the processes have been improved and became easier, with positive consequences in several areas, including human resources and the enterprise s image in the market. / A Tecnologia da informação (TI) começa a ganhar espaço no dia-a-dia do produtor, mudando a maneira como os pecuaristas administram suas propriedades. A TI afeta a gestão do negócio, ao facilitar a busca, o acesso, o armazenamento e a disseminação de informações, favorecendo a tomada de decisão. Além dos softwares e portais sobre o agronegócio, a TI inclui dispositivos eletrônicos para armazenamento de informações sanitárias, nutricionais e genéticas; canais de televisão e estrutura de telecomunicações. O objetivo desse trabalho foi estudar o uso e a difusão da TI na pecuária de corte, a partir de fatores que influenciaram a adoção; descrever recursos, procedimentos e ações necessárias para o funcionamento da mesma; segmentar os empreendimentos rurais a partir do nível tecnológico; e elaborar propostas para intensificar o uso da TI na atividade pecuária. A pesquisa foi realizada em duas fases: uma quantitativa e outra qualitativa. Na primeira, foi realizado um levantamento do tipo survey com produtores, buscando informações acerca das diferentes tecnologias adotadas e das atitudes em relação às mesmas, possibilitando identificar o grau de inovatividade dos produtores e agrupá-los pela semelhança da postura tecnológica. A segunda analisou experiências, opiniões e perspectivas a respeito da tecnologia integrada ao sistema produtivo de duas propriedades em cada categoria, totalizando dez estudos de caso, a partir de entrevistas pessoais. Os resultados proporcionaram entendimento sobre os motivos da adoção ou rejeição de uma determinada TI pelos produtores, permitindo identificar as razões para alguns produtores adotarem mais rapidamente que outros. Foi possível entender as alterações ocorridas na organização rural por ocasião da implantação dessas tecnologias, observando-se, por exemplo, um avanço nas práticas gerenciais a partir da adoção e uso da TI. De um modo geral, os processos foram aprimorados e facilitados, com reflexos positivos em várias áreas da propriedade, incluindo recursos humanos e a imagem do empreendimento no mercado.

Thesis (M.A. Agricultural Management (Animal Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / The Nguni is indigenous multi-purpose cattle breed that plays an important role in both commercial and communal farming systems in South Africa (SA). Unfortunately, the breed is currently under threat of diminishing due to farmers’ preference for exotic breeds and cross breeding. In recognition of the above, the Industrial Development Corporation, the Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs and the University of Limpopo established the Nguni cattle breed preservation project. In this project, a herd of 30 Nguni heifers and 1 bull were allocated to 34 Communal Property Associations (CPA) and 40 private farming enterprises each. With its three distinct ecological zones (High, Mid and Low-veld), the Mpumalanga province poses a challenge to the Nguni preservation project since cattle have to adapt to different ecological zones in order to grow and reproduce efficiently. Knowledge of cattle herd productivity improves the understanding of the functional attributes and is useful in determining the constraints and the potential of communal beef cattle production systems. Significant differences between ecological zones were observed for age at first calving, weaning rate, calves’ birth weight and calves’ weaning weight (p < 0.05). Calving of heifers in the Mid-veld zone occurred earlier (24 months) on both ownership types compared to Highveld (28.09 months for private and 26.00 for CPA) and the Lowveld (28.35 months for both ownerships). Nguni cattle on the Highveld performed better in terms of weaning rate under both private and CPA ownerships, where the weaning rate were 93% and 80%, respectively. Calves birth weight was lower in both ownership types in the Midveld zone (22.17 kg), whereas in the CPA, the Lowveld zone had higher calves birth weights (26.80 kg). In the private ownership, the highest calves’ birth weight (25.35 kg) was on the Highveld. The calves weaning weight were significantly higher (p < 0.05) on Highveld in private ownership (190.16 kg) and lowest (160.39 kg) in the Midveld zone. For the CPA, the highest calves weaning weight was also on the Highveld (187.55) and lowest on Midveld (167.50 kg). A full range of backup services that are offered to the communities by stakeholders in the form of a beef package that includes veld and pasture management, nutrition management, beef performance, animal recording keeping, genetic evaluation and animal health management program needs thorough attention.

No description available.