Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: MARIA CLAUDIA TEIXEIRA DE ARUEIRA

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : MARIA CLAUDIA TEIXEIRA DE ARUEIRA
DATE: 29/10/2025
TIME: 13:30
LOCAL: Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária/CNPAB
TITLE:

Participatory evaluation of organic sweet potato cultivation: a case study with family farmers in Brejal Serra Fluminense region

KEY WORDS:

Agroecology; food security; vegetables.

PAGES: 16
BIG AREA: Ciências Agrárias
AREA: Agronomia
SUBÁREA: Fitotecnia
SPECIALTY: Manejo e Tratos Culturais
SUMMARY:

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include, as their second topic, human nutrition, proposing to end hunger, achieve food security, improve population nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture through income growth by the year 2030. In view of this challenge, this study aims to carry out participatory evaluations of the agronomic performance of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) varieties under organic management in productive units of family farmers in the municipality of Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro. The municipality of Petrópolis is recognized as the capital of organic production of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Law No. 8118, published in the Official Gazette on September 25, 2018).

Sweet potato roots have a low perceived commercial opportunity among farmers in this region, with cultivation mainly intended for subsistence and sale of the surplus. However, this horticultural species is relatively easy to cultivate, shows increasing demand in major marketing centers frequented by these farmers, and its post-harvest conservation is superior to that of leafy species such as lettuce and collard greens.

The experimental work with different sweet potato varieties will be conducted in the Brejal region, whose geographical coordinates are latitude -22.2581773 and longitude -43.0495084, in four family farming units located in three locally known areas: Cachoeirinha, Albertos, and Jurity. The following sweet potato varieties will be introduced: Rosinha de Verdan, Iapar 69, Beni Imo, and Japanese. The cultivation areas will consist of 12 raised beds, each 12 meters long, with each variety planted in three beds. Harvests will be carried out at different cultivation cycles, namely at 120, 130, 140, and 150 days after planting. The seedlings will be formed from vine cuttings obtained from crops grown at the Agroecological Farm Km 47, located in Seropédica, in the Baixada Fluminense region.

The monitoring of the crops will be carried out by the farmers and researchers involved in the project. Farmers will be encouraged to evaluate the vegetative behavior of the plants, reporting characteristics such as growth, pest occurrence, and diseases. During harvest, root length, shape, presence of defects and biotic damage, fresh weight, and commercial classification will be determined. The participating farmers will also be encouraged to express their own subjective perceptions regarding the varieties under study. Meetings will be held to promote the sharing of the knowledge generated.

As expected results, considering the predominant edaphoclimatic conditions in the study sites, include recommendations for sweet potato varieties that present appropriate agronomic performance and commercial standard; characterization of the growth cycles of each variety until harvest; and the identification of the incidence of pests and diseases affecting the varieties. The knowledge generated through shared efforts will be socialized with other organic family farmers in the Brejal locality, with the aim of creating new commercialization opportunities and, consequently, income, by diversifying cultivated areas with the introduction of sweet potato varieties.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - ***.371.857-** - JOSÉ GUILHERME MARINHO GUERRA - EMBRAPA
Interno - ***.249.667-** - RENATO LINHARES DE ASSIS - EMBRAPA
Externa à Instituição - JANAINA RIBEIRO COSTA ROUWS - EMBRAPA