Protocolo de apoio às visitas de verificação para a conversão à produção orgânica de unidades agrícolas do Sistema Participativo de Garantia ABIO/MOGICO, Juiz de Fora - MG

Abstract

This work was developed by the Many People Interested in Organic Cultivation – in free translation of the original Portuguese acronym (MOGICO) association of Juiz de Fora, which is part of the Participative Guarantee System of the Association of Organic Farmers of the State of Rio de Janeiro (SPG-ABIO). The association MOGICO, initially made up of consumers and producers, was formed in 2013 to supply the demand for organic food in the municipality. While on the one hand the participatory system of organic compliance (SPG) is more accessible, especially for family farmers, on the other hand, it requires a systemic approach, both in relation to the issues of the agroecological conversion process of the production units, regarding the collective process of assessing organic compliance. There are two instruments of importance for the SPG: The Organic Management Plan (PMO) and the verification visits. In this context, this dissertation aims to describe the process of construction of the Organic Management Plan (PMO) of two family units of production and to validate the scope of the use of a standardization protocol that assists the visits of verification of organic compliance. For the elaboration of the PMO, the "Participatory Rural Extension Methodology for Sustainable Development" was used; and for validation of the protocol constructed by the members of the GSP, the methodology of "Participatory Observation in Qualitative Research" was used. The first stage of the work consisted in description and analysis of the process of confection of the PMO and the organic certification of the two-family units. In the second stage, it was reported the process of elaboration of a protocol, its application in the verification visits, and the validation of the reach of the same carried out by the SPG-ABIO / MOGICO. As a result of the research work, the need for technical support to the family farmers for the elaboration of the PMO was evidenced. In this way, the construction of the PMO, made with the aid of the participative methodology mentioned above, facilitated the process of conversion of the production units. Regarding the use of the protocol in the verification visits, it has been shown to be a guiding instrument for the assessment of organic compliance in the SPG and may: assist members in the process of appropriation of standards according to Brazilian legislation; contribute to ensuring the active participation of all concerned; facilitate the temporal recording and systematization of the verification results. From the evaluation of the organic compliance of units of the SPG-ABIO / MOGICO, through the proposed standardization protocol, it is concluded that it is possible to analyze weaknesses and potentialities of the production units, therefore, of the group of this System.