Study investigates technological innovation in organic agriculture

As the technology available on the market was developed for the conventional model of agriculture, organic producers try to adapt tools and equipment to increase the productivity of their labor.

By José Tadeu Arantes

Agência FAPESP – Organic farming has grown at a swift pace in Brazil. According to data released in 2013 by the Ministry of Agrarian Development, the market for organic products is expanding from 15% to 20% per year, supplied by approximately 90,000 producers, of which approximately 85% are family farmers.

A study conducted by Mauro José Andrade Tereso, associate professor at the Agricultural Engineering School at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Feagri/Unicamp), investigated working conditions and technological innovation in the sector.

The FAPESP-funded study included researchers from the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Unicamp, Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) and Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar).

During the study, conducted from May 2010 to May 2013, the researchers examined 33 Organic Farming Production Units (OFPU) dedicated largely to vegetables. This total represented one-third of the OFPUs dedicated to certified organic vegetable growing in São Paulo State at the beginning of the study.

Approximately two-thirds of the OFPUs visited were family properties with total areas of not more than 20 hectares and none dedicating more than 15 hectares exclusively to horticulture. The majority had an environmental protection area and were characterized by the substantial diversity of the items produced.

The researchers sought to map the technology employed and the demands, adaptations and technological innovations focused on increasing productivity by minimizing the workload and the difficulties of executing tasks.

“As the technology available on the market was developed for the conventional model of agriculture, organic producers are obliged to adapt tools and equipment and make other innovations to increase the productivity of their labor,” Tereso commented.

Conventional agriculture has spread on a global scale, beginning with the so-called “Green Revolution” during the 1960s and 1970s and based largely on the following elements: monoculture; intensive use of synthetic compounds for soil recovery and pest control; the use of machinery in the production, soil preparation and post-harvest process; the use of genetically modified seeds adapted for the production model; and the use of exogenous sources of energy in relation to productive space.

Organic agriculture, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s definition, is the system of production that broadly excludes the use of fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators and synthetically prepared additives to animal feed.

It is also based, as much as possible, on crop rotation and the utilization of manure, oilseeds, green fertilizer, reutilization of organic materials from outside the property, natural minerals and biological pest control to maintain the structure and productivity of the soil, provide nutrients to plants and control insects, weeds and other crop pests.

Organic farming generally employs traditional farm machinery, resuming the use of old agricultural practices but adapting them to modern production technology with the objective of increasing productivity with minimal interference to the ecosystem.

“Organic farmers make up for the lack of equipment developed especially for them with innovation in their productive processes and the adoption of new organizational methods. Very ingenious adaptations of conventional equipment are also common,” affirmed Tereso.

The diversity of products and sales alternatives also represents a set of important strategies that allow organic farmers to compete in the market.

“Our study showed that these farmers are highly qualified, with an impressive amount of knowledge on plants, soil, the soil-water relationship and other agronomic issues. Furthermore, they work with a broad diversity of products,” said Tereso.

“In conventional agriculture, the farmer often deals with only one type of product, lettuce or tomato, for example. In organic agriculture, it is common for farmers to deal with 15, 20, sometimes 60 different items. We found a property that produced more than 100 horticulture items,” continued the researcher.

Half of the farmers interviewed in the study were between the ages of 40 and 60. Two-thirds had more than 10 years of experience in farming activity and organic agriculture. Several had more than 20 years of certification.

In addition to managers, the majority of the workers at family OFPUs performed all of the tasks that compose the different work systems. Exceptions were tasks that required significant physical force, such as harvesting roots and tubers, a job performed only by men, or activities that require specific abilities, such as the preparation of seedlings. Labor specialization emerged primarily in the operation of machinery and equipment such as tractors and dusters.

With this qualification level and the lack of technology available on the market, these farmers have sought creative solutions and employed innovation in the most literal sense of the word, not only bringing new technological implements inside the property but also developing very specific technologies there. “That was one of the most interesting conclusions of our study,” commented Tereso.

Another difference between organic and conventional farmers is that the former seek diverse market niches. “Normally, the conventional producer sells to a middleman and is content with this arrangement. But the organic producer seeks to explore various possibilities: cooperatives, Internet sales, sales of baskets of products, their own sales points, partnerships with restaurants or supermarkets; in short, a broad array with many alternatives to avoid the middlemen,” explained Tereso.

Many of these producers have created unique packaging and brands. Several also undertake some type of processing, adding value to their products.

Technological solutions

After the general survey, the study moved to its second stage, an in-depth examination of the OFPUs that excelled in the varied modalities of technological innovation. Researchers observed the day-to-day activities of the managers of these properties, attempting to understand how innovation occurs inside the OFPUs that they manage. Each manager was accompanied for at least 40 hours. In total, the researchers spent more than 400 hours in the field in the second stage of the study.

Organic farmers offset the lack of technology available in the form of machinery and equipment with the development of technological solutions in the form of processes, organization of labor and commercialization of their products.

“What most caught our attention was the capacity of organic producers to find solutions to sidestep the lack of equipment that they faced on the Brazilian market. When the market begins to offer specific equipment for these professionals, they could far outstrip the productivity of conventional agriculture,” commented Tereso.

“Brazil is currently the world’s largest organic sugar producer. In the mid-1980s, when the largest company in the sector began its operations, its productivity was less than one-half the national average. Since then, this company has developed its own technologies (machines, equipment, new agronomic processes and biological pest control, for example). Today, the productivity of this company is 80% higher than the national average. This result shows that when broad knowledge of the productive processes and technological resources are combined, productivity can reach surprising levels,” affirmed the researcher.