O ouro negro " açaí " irá beneficiar a agricultura familiar na Amazônia Oriental? Reflexões sobre as mudanças recentes nas práticas de produção de açaí

The strong increase in the consumption of açaí in the cities of the Amazon, as well as the emergence of national and international consumption are leading profound changes in traditional production systems which traditionally manage this and collect its fruits, but also in the production systems situated on the agricultural fronts. Analyzing various case studies in the States of Pará and Amapá, the authors show the diversity of açaí's production practices and briefly explain the main factors of change. A general trend is at stake and deals with the search for increasing palm trees' productivity. We observe that in some production systems a greater diversity of managed species and plants is preserved whereas in other systems a dynamic of intensification - specialization is ongoing with the support of technical assistance and agricultural research. A retrospective analysis of the importance of acai palm in the economy of families (locality of Igarapé - Miri - PA) is used in order to question if the emergence of this production in traditional family farms and pioneer fronts farms is opportunistic or sustainable.