Perspectivas de fortalecimento da agricultura familiar a partir do sistema de cultivo do café clonal: o caso do assentamento Margarida Alves em Nova União - RO

Abstract

The model of production disseminated by agribusiness directly affects family agriculture in the settlements. The production of monocultures is a reality in the Units of Production (UP's). This reality is also present in the settlements organized by the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) in the State of Rondônia. In the Settlement Project (PA) Margarida Alves what is present is the "milk monoculture", the same is occupying areas where were previously destined the crops, mainly of coffee. Understanding that the production of conventional coffee is not giving favorable results, the settlers are getting rid of these old plantations looking for to implant a new system of cultivation that is based on the technique of genetic improvement: the clonal coffee. The clonal coffee is a system of asexual reproductive improvement of coffee (from cuttings) where the desired genetic characteristics are removed from a mother plant, the main ones being: varieties with high productive index and also varieties resistant to drought and diseases. In this sense, the present work is concerned with analyzing the limits and potentialities for the adoption of the clonal coffee cultivation system in the Margarida Alves Settlement Project, located in the municipality of Nova União (RO), as an important factor for the strengthening of family farming local. The research is classified as exploratory, whose data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire with a qualitative approach. The research subjects were four families settled in PA Margarida Alves, being divided in two groups corresponding to the profiles of ex-producers (families) of conventional coffee and beginners (families) in the production of clonal coffee (where two families were in each group) , who have devoted much of their activities to the production of conventional coffee, and who start betting on the production of clonal coffee. The interviews were also directed to local actors, such as EMATER / RO and the local cooperative. In view of this, it was possible to observe that clonal coffee may be a viable alternative to potentiate the diversified production in the settlement, however it presents some limiting factors that need to be better worked.