Caracterização da Pluriatividade e dos Plurirrendimentos da Agricultura Brasileira a partir do Censo Agropecuário 2006

he article discusses the phenomenon of pluriactivity in Brazilian agriculture, referring to the diversification of economic and labour activities in rural areas, and pluri-incomes, referring to the diversification of income sources accessed by farmers and their families. Based on 2006 Agricultural Census data, an analysis for Brazil and Southern and Northeastern regions of the country is carried out, trying to compare the so-called “pluriactive households” belonging to family farming and non-family farming categories. The paper identifies and quantifies these households; characterize them according to the type of pluriactivity and the labour relations of employed persons; and identifies their distinct revenue sources, measuring the importance of each one in the formation of total revenue. The empirical finding of a higher percentage of non-family farming households classified as pluriactive (51.9%) than the family farming (34.1%) led to an intriguing theoretical question, since almost all the studies in Brazil always considered pluriactivity as a phenomenon specific to family farming. Although this question is only briefly discussed, the most significant result is that there must be an important part of family farmers who, precisely because they are pluriactive, are improperly classified as non-family farmers and, therefore, excluded from official statistics and possibly of the very public policies suitable for family farming.