Adoção de inovações, relações de trabalho e cultura na unidade de produção camponesa: o caso de Curiaú no Amapá

Abstract

The present research entitled "adoption of Innovations, Relationships of Work and Culture in the Country unit" had as objetive to learn the reasons that the Country Producers of Curiaú - AP presented in relation to the adoption of technologic innovations proposed by the Service of Rural Extension in the period from 1974 to 1990. It was adopted the interpretative approach and analysis of contents embased in techincs of qualitative research. The informations were collected during 1990 in documents related to the State, to Curiaú and to Extension and though the semi structured interviews made with producers (18) and extensionists (04) who gave assistance to the community. The State of Amapá, isolated from the rest of the country, under several aspects, has the mineral and vegetable extrative exploration as the main characteristics of its economy, presenting communities with well defined cultural marks from their origins and maintained by isolation in the núcleo and settlements. The community of Curiaú, situated at 8 Km from Macapá, originated from slaves, maintains a culture in which predominate communitary and familiar values, characterizing itself by possession and colletive use of land, work and production in the familiar nucleus, objectivating the consumption and the commercialization of the exceeding for satisfaction of basic necessities. The production is characterized as of subsistence; the manihot (flour) is the main product being cultivated by familiar labor force with inhrited technics from the ancestors and with use of low level of funds. The reaction of country producers of Curiaú - AP in relation to the presented proposals by the Extension was characterized by non-adoption of technologic innovations and defense of the principies and cultural values (collective use of land, work and life in the community). The producers considered their way of working more practical and more rapid and, furthermore, that there is no necessity of changing neither their production nor their way of working. They gave more value to their knowledge aquired in the experience, in work and in life rather than to the taught or transmitted knowledge. They presented total security both in the definition of cultures and in the utilized technics, avoiding any risk. They considered that the presented technics were non-linked to their social reality and life, and to change the way of producing would implicate in changing the way of living. They considered the proposals of extension as dissociated to their interests and objective. Talking into account the cultural invasion (radio, television...), relationships with the commerce, proximity and permanent contacts with Macapá, mainly by the young persons and weekening of peculiar values to the culture, its is felt that the desintegration of the community is going to process in short time space.