APLICAÇÃO DE ANÁLISE MULTIVARIADA DE AGRUPAMENTO NO ESTUDO DE ESPÉCIES FORRAGEIRAS ENCONTRADA NA REGIÃO DA CHAPADA DO APODI-RN-BRASIL

The objective was identification of forage species used in animal feed according farmer information, using multivariate analysis. Fifty farmer were visited in the region of Chapada do Apodi, a mountainous region located on the border between the States of Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará, Brazil. Questionnaires were applied to farmer. In the evaluation of the interviews, a multivariate analysis was performed using Group Analysis and Principal Component Analysis to correlate and group the species and indicate presence or absence in production systems (intensive, semi-intensive, extensive). It was verified the presence of 36 forage species: jurema preta (Mimosa tenuiflora), jucá (Libidibia ferrea), juazeiro (Ziziphus joazeiro), mororó (Bauhinia cheilantha) and catingueira (Caesalpina pyramidalis) most cited for use in animal feed, being the most represented in the extensive, in this order. According to the farmer´s citations, the region of Chapada do Apodi species of forage potential in animal production, mainly in extensive systems.