RURAL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL SKILLS FOR THE NEW ERA

Abstract

The last decade has been fertile in changes to the rural area's structure in a similar way to that occurring in other sectors around the world. In Brazil, although considering the time lag and the country's particular conditions, some rural areas in South-Center have been presenting deep transformations, with more complexity and with new dynamics. This new scenario has also changed the professional profile of those devoted to the sector's development. Particularly in the Agrarian Sciences, which were glorified in the Green Revolution, the formation of specialists with fragmented views of reality has become superseded. In the new profile required from these professional, competencies will depend not only of their technical background but also of their capability to achieve professional success as a human being and as citizens. The following are considered durable skills: intrapersonal skills - such as self-knowledge, self-management, and self-motivation and interpersonal skills - such as empathy and the capacity of handling other people. These skills take qualities such as flexibility and speed to pursue results, polyvalence in terms of job execution, strategic vision to take on opportunities, entrepreneurial capacity and finally, the ability to relate to others, essential to any relationship outside or inside the company.