Mapeamento da cadeia produtiva do mel na Cooperativa dos criadores de abelhas indígenas da Amazônia (COOPMEL) em Boa Vista do Ramos – Amazonas - Brasil

Abstract

The objective of the work was to map the productive chain of honey at the Cooperative of Indigenous Beekeepers of the Amazon (COOPMEL) in Boa Vista do Ramos, where the quantity of cooperative producers, honey production of cooperative producers, honey processing flowchart, analyses for obtaining the SIE, the main products and by-products benefited in the Cooperative, the main buyers/destinations of the products, and the market value obtained were identified. The field research was conducted at COOPMEL in September 2023, with on-site interviews aimed at obtaining information about production and processing at the COOPMEL warehouse. A visit to the Boa União community on the Urubu River was also made for direct observation of honey harvesting. The results showed that COOPMEL has a total of 30 active members. The bee species managed in the communities are Melipona interrupta and Melipona seminigra; producers use the rational box designed by Fernando Oliveira (popularly known as the INPA box). With a total of 1,182 colonies in the 12 communities covered by the Cooperative, Melipona seminigra bees have 719 colonies, and Melipona interrupta bees have 463 colonies. The total production in 2022 and 2023 was 861.34 kg of honey for commercialization. Dispatch occurs according to order receipt. COOPMEL has the SIE seal and Arte seal; to achieve this goal, the cooperative entered into a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture. However, microbiological analyses, also necessary for the SIE seal, could not be performed due to the absence of laboratories with adequate equipment and reagents in Amazonas. Faced with this reality, COOPMEL provides justifications for the absence of analyses, which have been accepted by the Ministry of Agriculture so far. The conclusions indicate that the honey production chain is complete, but the main obstacles are the absence of laboratories to perform analyses, causing difficulty in obtaining the SIE seal, preventing COOPMEL from officially demonstrating the quality of its product.