Agricultores familiares em transição agroecológica: estudo de caso no Município de Primavera, Nordeste Paraense.

Abstract

In a context of growing interest in environmental issues and healthy eating, agroecological practices, based on valuing biodiversity, have been gaining prominence in discussions related to food production as an alternative to conventional production systems, which favor monoculture and the use of inputs external. However, few studies have been carried out within the Brazilian Amazon, with emphasis on the lack of research that incorporates quantitative methods and geoprocessing analyzes in the evaluation of the use of agroecological practices. In view of this, the research aims to evaluate the agroecological transition of family farmers in the municipality of Primavera, Northeast Paraense, through the creation of an indicator and the analysis of the profile of the producers who are part of the Cooperative of Family Farmers of Primavera (COOPRIMA), in addition to the characterization of agriculture in the municipality, identifying potentialities for advancing the agroecological transition. The methodology used was based on the survey of secondary data, satellite images and official data, related to the rural area of Primavera, in addition to socioeconomic and productive information of COOPRIMA members, through the application of questionnaires and field observation. The results showed that agricultural production in the municipality of Primavera in recent years suffered a loss of dynamism, with the decrease of the technological level in the production systems. However, due to the fact that the municipality's agricultural system is predominantly familiar, the possibility of incorporating agroecological practices is promising, which is confirmed in the study with family farmers associated with COOPRIMA, where it was made clear that, despite all the difficulties associated with infrastructure and the capacity for social organization, there was a great acceptance and adoption of the proposed techniques. Therefore, in rural areas with low economic dynamism and predominance of family farming, agroecological practices can be the basis for rural development, since they need few resources for their implementation and evolution.