Semeando saberes: a relação e importância das sementes crioulas para os guardiões dos Campos Gerais, Paraná, Brasil

Abstract

Creole seeds constitute traditional varieties that have been conserved, selected, and reproduced over generations by socially recognized subjects known as guardians, who retain not only the genetic material but also the knowledge, practices, cultural values, and symbolic meanings associated with their maintenance. This inseparable relationship constitutes a biocultural heritage that goes beyond the productive dimension, assuming a central role in debates on agrobiodiversity, ethnoconservation, food sovereignty, and socio-environmental sustainability. In the context of the Campos Gerais region, Paraná, Brazil, there is a clear need to deepen investigations that examine the role of creole seeds in the conservation of agricultural diversity and in the maintenance of traditional agricultural practices, particularly in the face of processes of productive homogenization imposed by the agroindustrial model. This research is guided by the question of the role of creole seeds in the conservation of agrobiodiversity and in the strengthening of regional food sovereignty, sustaining the thesis that guardians hold unique forms of knowledge transmitted intergenerationally, permeated by technical, social, cultural, economic, and historical challenges, and that establish interfaces with urban environmental sustainability. The general objective consisted in understanding how creole seeds strengthen traditional agricultural practices in the Campos Gerais region, promoting the valorization of local knowledge and resistance to dynamics of agricultural standardization. Methodologically, a qualitative approach was adopted, grounded in semi-structured interviews and participant observation, with data analysis conducted through Discursive Textual Analysis (DTA). The study involved 64 participants, with data collected in 2024, and was structured as a compilation of scientific articles. The results demonstrate that creole seeds act as articulating elements between society, nature, and territory, strengthening networks of seed and knowledge exchange, consolidating social and intergenerational ties, and contributing to regional food sovereignty and the conservation of agrobiodiversity. Through this study, it is expected to contribute to the strengthening of public policies for agrobiodiversity conservation, to the valorization of traditional knowledge, and to the promotion of socio-environmental sustainability strategies in both rural and urban contexts.