ASSISTÊNCIA TÉCNICA E EXTENSÃO RURAL PARA A AGRICULTURA FAMILIAR

Abstract

Technical assistance and rural extension are fundamental services in the process of rural development and agricultural activity, as it is an instrument of communication and knowledge of new technologies, generated by research. Family farming is a type of agriculture developed on small farms, and produces about 70% of the food consumed in Brazil, even though activities have decreased in recent years. The participation of each region in the total of family farming establishments in the country when analyzed is visible the great variation, showing that the Northeast region holds the vast majority, with 47.18% of the total; Southeast has 17.68%; the region with South 17%, the North has a share of 12.33% and finally the Midwest which accounts for 5.7%. Whether public or private, this type of service is not available to everyone, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics 2017 only 20.2% of establishments in Brazil claim to have received some type of technical guidance. There was a decrease compared to 2006 which had 22.1% recorded. Although the National Policy for Technical Assistance and Rural Extension proposes relevant changes in rural extension based on acting with more democratic and sustainable principles, there are still major obstacles, imposed by different social agents, above all in programs that supposedly aim at rural development, but that have an essentially productivist and sectoral tendency. Although there is an important effort by the Federal Government with programs such as the National Program for the Strengthening of Family Agriculture, as well as state programs of technical assistance and associations, there is still an immense challenge to overcome. The challenge is even greater if one considers the diversity of situations in Brazil. When analyzing the scenario in which family farming is inserted, it is observed that the problems are different for each region, state or municipality. The objective of this study was to show the importance of public Ater, identifying the establishments and groups of producers that most need it.