SOCIAL POSITION AND RESEARCH PRIORITY PERCEPTION FOR FAMILY FARMS: IDENTIFICATION OF DEMANDS IN THE STATE OF BAHIA, BRAZIL

Abstract

A Survey on demands for agricultural research does not exhaust itself in the identification of technological problems that limit the production. It still involves the expectations of the social actors towards the goals of the agricultural development, as well as the repercussions that the technological advances may cause on the social and productive lives of the farmers. Such expectations reflect the social position occupied by them and the nature of their links with the institutions oriented to strengthen the family farm production. The identification of these needs results, therefore, of a social construction of this necessity, from which derives the importance of participation, on equitable bases, of the groups involved. Analysis of how extensions workers, researchers and family farmers conceive the need for new knowledge, in order to improve productive activities, in two regions in the State of Bahia (Brazil), evidences not only the relevance of the dialogue among these actors, but also identifies a need for adoption of more systematic procedures to the realization of this task.