Given the serious agricultural losses suffered by the highland region of the state of Rio de Janeiro due to heavy rainfall in January 2011, this projects aimed at transferring agroecological technologies that have been already developed and adapted to the region through cooperative methodologies that foster interaction between researchers and farmers. It was expected to contribute to counter the environmental and economic risk scenario afflicting family farming in the region; diversify production and, consequently, income sources; and, above all, mitigate the damages and losses identified in rural areas.
Field action focused on reference communities which were selected based on concentration of family farmers and level of damage caused by the January 2011 rains. At the same time, the project established a network of reference properties with a background in the use of technologies and processes adapted and validated for highland environments. The aim was to foster the exchange of experiences between these producers and the farmers in the reference communities.
In order to share and expand the results of these experiences, these properties was used as spaces of motivation and instruction during field days involving family farmers from various communities and technicians who work in the region. In addition, there were made seminars and specific journals related to technologies and processes that are found to be appropriate to the environmental reality of the highland region.
Keywords: agroecology, environmental education, soil management, vegetables, direct seeding