Elements for reflections on agro-environmental transition: the logic of technical change in family farming
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5380/dma.v14i0.11889Keywords:
family farming, technical changes within agriculture, logic of management, agricultura familiar, mudanças técnicas na agricultura, lógicas de gestãoAbstract
This paper discusses logics employed in the technical choices made by vegetable farmers in the municipality
of Colombo, Paraná. Some practices for intensifying production that are developed through
conventional systems as well as the techniques that are employed in more conservationist systems, such
as those involving the reduced use of pesticides and fertilizers and organic agriculture are analyzed
here. Economic, socio-cultural and environmental dimensions are emphasized as factors that determine
farmers’ choices. In Colombo, the combination of depleted soil and conventional agricultural practices
prevail. Intensive use of soil and of chemical fertilizers and pesticides generate harsh environmental
impact. Farmers have their technical choices based on a set of constraints and opportunities indicated
by the market, by the community or reference groups. They are all connected through family, through
the physical environment, through technical strategies and through institutions and services related to
the management of natural resources and the generation and socialization of technical knowledge. It is
within this complex and dynamic context that farmers seek a direction, guided by their own practical
logic to get used to those technical options and make decisions on how to manage natural resources.
In the face of diverse sources of information, daily practical needs and a series of opportunities and
constraints, farmers preserve their own field of autonomy in which they develop processes of elaboration
and filtering. With such integration into the market, economic and instrumental logic take on
an ever-increasing importance. Notwithstanding some resistance, economic and market dimensions
prevail, crystallized in efforts to maximize production and earnings. Socio-cultural values associated
with family farming, such as security and autonomy, also emerge as other constitutive elements of the logic that is put into practice.
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