This research had the objective of characterizing the farming systems of the small farmers of the State of Ceará, Brazil. 23 geoenviromnental units, reprsenting the semi-arid area of the State, were selected and , for each of them , one municipality was chosen. In each one, a sample of farmers was selected and a questionary with 860 variables was applied. The data were analysed through multivariate statistical techniques. The results showed the existence of twelve différent types of small farmers, which were characterized according to family size, livestock, crop production, total and cultivated area (commercial and subsistence crops and pasture), technological level and différent incomes (agricultural old age pension and other activities): These farmers show distinguishable requirements regarding technology diffusion policy, priorities for research and investments. (Résumé d'auteur)

This paper talks about the peasant characteristics of an important part of Brazilian family agriculture and their invisibility in terms of statistics or public policies. The first part analyses the history, the peasant¿s origins of family agriculture in Brazil. The second part deals with the political tentative to minor, to hide or until to turn invisible this family and peasant agriculture in Brazil. (Résumé d'auteur)

The farm is each time more recognized as an object of complex study. This if becomes important when the farm is the object to supply an advice of orientation or an aid to the management, or the scope of a plan of agricultural development. For the dairy farms in agricultural borders of the Amazon, characterized by an important diversity of operation mode, the modeling of the diversity with the elaboration of typologies is an important stage for the organization of the agricultural development. From the case of dairy farms in Uruará municipio, situated on the Transamazonian frontier region, five main types of systems of milk production and theirs trajectories had been identified. Associating these two typologies, it was possible to identify the main dynamics within the diversity of the dairy systems, which represent principal evolutions between groups of farms. The results emphasize the importance of socioeconomics factors for the installation and the development of the dairy production. Inside this context, proposals can be formulated to promote the beginning of the dairy production, its stability and the improvement of the conditions of production. | A propriedade agrícola é cada vez mais reconhecida como um objeto de estudo complexo. Isso se torna importante quando nela se intervém para fornecer um conselho de orientação ou uma ajuda à gestão, ou, num quadro mais amplo, no âmbito de um plano de desenvolvimento rural. Nos estabelecimentos leiteiros das frentes pioneiras da Amazônia, cuja diversidade de funcionamento é particularmente marcante, a modelagem da diversidade, graças à construção de tipologias, representa uma etapa importante para a organização do desenvolvimento agrícola. A partir do caso das explorações leiteiras no município de Uruará, na frente pioneira da Transamazônica, foram identificados cincos principais tipos de sistemas de produção de leite e trajetórias desses. A combinação dessas duas tipologias levou a caracterizar as principais dinâmicas possíveis dentro da diversidade dos sistemas leiteiros, representando as principais evoluções entre os tipos de propriedades. Os resultados salientam a importância de fatores socioeconômicos na implementação e desenvolvimento da atividade leiteira. Nesse contexto, as propostas formuladas devem favorecer a integração da produção leiteira, a sua permanência e a melhoria das condições de produção.