Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TICs) e a extensão rural: uma caracterização no contexto da agricultura familiar

Abstract

Studies demonstrate that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can assist in the emancipation of users, offering the possibility of access to information and knowledge, making them agents of their own history. In this sense, ICTs allow network integration and the shared construction of knowledge, this at a speed never seen before. Keeping up with these dynamics also presupposes understanding the movements of Rural Extension in Brazil and the extent to which it is mediated by Information and Communication Technologies in rural areas. The present investigation aimed to characterize the forms of access, use and appropriation of ICTs by farming families in the municipalities of Pato Branco, Paraná and Xaxim, Santa Catarina, and to point out the possibilities, limits and challenges for Rural Extension with regard to thematic. Still, we sought to verify the transformations generated from the use of ICTs in the daily activities of these families, as well as the possible formation of networks between family farmers and rural extension agents. Thus, the possibility of accessing, using and appropriating these technologies represents a great opportunity for family farmers in the face of the challenges of the current market's competitiveness. Despite the importance and significance that ICTs represent for rural areas, access conditions have limitations, since the technology currently used is deficient, which prevents effective access to the potential of these technologies. In some situations, even with a high investment, the farmer cannot access an efficient service or use the network properly. The research showed changes in social relations from the use of ICTs. In this new dynamic, the usual processes of daily living, for example, visits, ended up becoming more restricted, since many issues or problems have been solved virtually, therefore, there is more contact via cell phone and less face to face contact. . These changes imply the aspects of user-friendliness, personal relationships and community bonds, characteristics that are so significant and historically present in the context of family farming. The study also revealed that ICTs are gradually being inserted into the Rural Extension processes, representing an improvement in this service, however, in the future scenario that is being designed, we will have new challenges and the need for new strategies for the execution of technical assistance and rural extension in the country.