Abstract
Agricultural practices directly affect biodiversity, in such a way that the search for more sustainable practices that combine production and environmental conservation is necessary. When compared with the conventional agriculture model, organic agriculture is proven to be more beneficial to biodiversity conservation; however, social processes of knowledge exchange, cooperation, solidarity, and collective responsibility related to organic agriculture can influence the agrobiodiversity present in organic production systems. This study aimed to investigate whether the agricultural production carried out by producers who participate in the Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) is agrobiodiverse. To do so, the average of the diversity of organic items produced by producers participating in PGS was compared with that of third-party certified producers, both from the state of São Paulo, Brazil. A documentary research was developed, analyzing the National Register of Organic Producers in Brazil. The average of the productive diversity of PGS was 58.8 items per producer, whereas the average per producer in the third-party was 22.2 items. Approximately 25% of organic producers in the state of São Paulo certified by third-party had only one productive item registered. The plant species richness found among the PGS producers was 292 species, of which 12% were native and 12% were plants used for medicinal purposes. The evidenced results contribute to discussions on agrobiodiversity, presenting PGS as a system that has an important role in promoting agrobiodiversity in organic agriculture.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Source: Made by the authors based on (MAPA 2020)
Source: Made by the authors based on (MAPA 2020)
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The material used for the analyses of this study has open access.
Code availability
Not applicable.
References
Allam Z, Bibri SE, Sharpe SA (2022) The Rising Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War: Energy Transition, Climate Justice, Global Inequality, and Supply Chain Disruption. Resources 11:99. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources11110099
Altieri MA, Nicholls CI (2020) Agroecology and the emergence of a post COVID-19 agriculture. Agric Hum Values 37:525–526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10043-7
Badgley C, Moghyader J, Quintero E, Zakem E, Chappel MJ, Avilés-Vázquez K, Samulon A, Perfecto I (2007) Organic agriculture and the global food supply. Renewable Agric Food Syst 22:86–108. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170507001640
Bavec M, Bavec F (2015) Impact of organic farming on biodiversity. In: Lo Y, Blanco JA, Roy S (eds) Biodiversity in ecosystems - linking structure and function. Intech Open. https://doi.org/10.5772/58974
BIOTA-FAPESP (2008) O estado de São Paulo. Conhecimento e uso sustentável da biodiversidade brasileira: o Programa Biota-FAPESP / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, – [São Paulo] : FAPESP, p 204. https://fapesp.br/publicacoes/biota_port.pdf. Accessed 4 Jul 2021
Fórum Brasileiro de Sistemas Participativos de Garantia e Organizações de Controle Social (2009) Carta de princípios do SPG. http://www.centroecologico.org.br/webcontrol/upl/publicacoes/diversos/Carta%20de%20Princípios%20do%20Fórum%20Brasileiro%20de%20SPGs%20e%20OCSs.pdf. Accessed 7 Jul 2021
Brito TP, Souza-Esquerdo VF, Borsatto RS (2022) State of the art on research about organic certification: a systematic literature review. Org Agric 12:177–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-022-00390-6
Brito TP, Aragão SS, Souza-Esquerdo VF, Pereira MS (2023) Perfil dos agricultoresorgânicos e as formas de avaliação da conformidadeorgânica no estado de São Paulo. Rev Econ Sociol Rural 61:e260825. https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9479.2022.260825
Brito TP, Morales H, Souza-Esquerdo VF, Tasca LHC (2024) Contributions of participatory certification to the territorialization of agroecology. Agroecol Sustain Food Syst 48(2):199–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2273831
Carvalho NR, Silva-Barata AW, Pereira VS, Augusto LA (2020) Extensão Universitária em Comunidade Rural: Diálogos para Conservação da Araucaria Angustifolia. Revista Conexão UEPG 16:1–12. https://doi.org/10.5212/Rev.Conexao.v.16.13566.003
Carvalho NR, Pereira VS, Guevara M, Barata-Silva AW (2021) Plantar, narrar e comer: conservação da Araucaria Angustifoliacomo Projeto Escolar emumaComunidade Rural no Sul de Minas Gerais. Perspectivas em Diálogo 8:328–348 https://periodicos.ufms.br/index.php/persdia/article/view/10612/8789
Chile (2015) Ley nº 20.838 de 17 de enero de 2015 del Congresso Nacional de Chile. Ministerio de Agricultura. 1. https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?i=1077977&f=2015-05-30. Acessed 12 Jul 2022
Cid-Aguayo BE (2011) Agroecologia y agriculturaorgánicaen Chile: entre convencionalización y ciudadaníaambiental. Agroalimentaria. 17:15–27 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=199218360002.
CNCFLORA - Centro Nacional de Conservação da Flora (2021) Lista vermelha. https://www.cncflora.jbrj.gov.br/portal/pt-br/listavermelha. Accessed 4 Jul 2021
Costa Rica (2009) Reglamento a la Ley n° 8591 para el desarrollo, promoción y fomento de la actividad agropecuaria orgánica. El Presidente De La República En Ejercicio y Los Ministros de Agricultura y Ganadería, Hacienda y Economía, Industria y Comercio.31. https://www.ciaorganico.net/legislacion/862_Reglamento_ley_8591.pdf. Acessed 12 Jul 2022
Cruz FT (2020) Agricultura familiar, processamento de alimentos e avanços e retrocessosnaregulamentação de alimentostradicionais e artesanais. Rev Econ Sociol Rural 58:e190965. https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9479.2020.190965
Dalmoro M (2022) Between conventionalization and emancipation: present and future paths for organic food market organization. In: future foods, pp 527–538, Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91001-9.00019-0
Darnhofer I, Lindenthal T, Bartel-Kratochvil R, Zollitsch W (2010) Conventionalisation of organic farming practices: from structural criteria towards an assessment based on organic principles. A Review Agron Sustain Dev 30:67–81. https://doi.org/10.1051/agro/2009011
Dinis I, Ortolani L, Bocci R, Brites C (2015) Organic agriculture values and practices in Portugal and Italy. Agric Syst 136:39–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2015.01.007
Eliazer-Nelson ARL, Ravichandran K, Antony U (2019) The impact of the Green Revolution on indigenous crops of India. J Ethn Food 6:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42779-019-0011-9
EMBRAPA – Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (2020) Espécies vegetais para recuperação. On this page, information is available on species from the Cerrado, atlantic forest and pantanal biomes recommended for the restoration of Permanent Preservation Areas (APP), Legal Reserve (ARL) and Restricted Use Areas (AUR). https://www.embrapa.br/codigo-florestal/especies-nativas-para-recuperacao. Accessed 4 Jul 2021
EMBRAPA – Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (2021) Conservação in situ e manejo de Recursos Genéticos. https://www.embrapa.br/recursos-geneticos-e-biotecnologia/gp/in-situ. Accessed 7 Jul 2021
FAO (1999a) FAO, agricultural biodiversity. In: the multifunctional character of agriculture and land. Maastricht, Netherlands. 12–17 September 1999. Conference. Background Paper 1. Rome: FAO
FAO (1999b) Women: users, preservers and managers of agrobiodiversity. www.fao.org/sd/2001/pe1201a_en.htm
FAO (2007) Organic certification schemes: managerial skills and associated costs. Retrieved from https://eldis.org/document/A36806. Accessed 7 Jul 2021
FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO (2020) The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2020. Transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9692en
FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO (2022) The state of food security and nutrition in the world 2022. Repurposing food and agricultural policies to make healthy diets more affordable. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc0639en.
FiBL, IFOAM Organics International (2021) The word of organic agriculture: statistics & emerging. Willer H, Trávníček J, Meier C, Schlatter B (eds) (2021) The world of organic agriculture. Statistics and emerging trends 2021. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, and IFOAM – Organics International, Bonn (v20210301). https://www.fibl.org/fileadmin/documents/shop/1150-organic-world-2021.pdf. Accessed 7 Jul 2021
FiBL, IFOAM Organics International (2024) The word of organic agriculture: statistics & emerging. Willer H, Trávníček J, Schlatter B (eds) (2024) The world of organic agriculture. Statistics and emerging trends 2024. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, and IFOAM – Organics International, Bonn. https://www.fibl.org/fileadmin/documents/shop/1747-organic-world-2024_light.pdf. Accessed 28 Feb 2024
Fischer A, Marini D, Winck CA (2016) Percepção das normas da vigilância sanitaria pelos agricultores familiares de Joaçaba, Herval D’Oeste e Luzerna. Gestão Regionalidade. 32:108–126. https://doi.org/10.13037/gr.vol32n95.2898
Fouilleux E, Loconto A (2017) Voluntary standards, certification, and accreditation in the global organic agriculture field: a tripartite model of techno-politics. Agric Hum Values 34(1):1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-016-9686-3
Grandi C (2008) Organic agriculture enhances agrobiodiversity. Biodiversity 9:33–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2008.9712878
Guptill A (2009) Exploring the conventionalization of organic dairy: Trends and counter-trends in upstate New York. Agr Hum Values 26:29–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-008-9179-0
Guthman J (2004) The trouble with ‘organic lite’ in California: A rejoinder to the ‘conventionalisation’ debate. Sociol Rural 44:301–316. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9523.2004.00277.x
Haggar J, Gracioli C, Springate S (2021) Land sparing or sharing: Strategies for conservation of arable plant diversity. J Nat Conserv 61:125986. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2021.125986
Haraguchi LMM, Carvalho OB (2010) Plantas medicinais: do curso de plantas medicinais. São Paulo: Secretaria Municipal do Verde e do Meio Ambiente. Divisão Técnica Escola Municipal de Jardinagem, p 248. https://www.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/cidade/secretarias/upload/meio_ambiente/arquivos/plantas_med_web.pdf. Accessed 19 Oct 2021
Hatanaka M (2014) McSustainability and McJustice: Certification, Alternative Food and Agriculture, and Social Change. Sustainability 6:8092–8112. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6118092
Heckelman A, Smukler S, Wittman H (2018) Cultivating climate resilience: a participatory assessment of organic and conventional rice systems in the Philippines. Renewable Agric Food Syst 33:225–237. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170517000709
Hervé M, Albert CH, Bondeau A (2016) On the importance of taking into account agricultural practices when defining conservation priorities for regional planning. J Nat Conserv 33:76–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2016.08.001
Hirata AR, Rocha LCD, Assis TRP, Souza-Esquerdo VF, Bergamasco S (2019) The Contribution of the Participatory Guarantee System in the Revival of Agroecological Principles in Southern Minas Gerais. Brazil Sustainability 11:4675. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11174675
Hirata A et al (2020) Panorama Nacional dos Sistemas Participativos de Garantia, Sistemas participativos de garantia do Brasil: Histórias e Experiências / Aloísia Rodrigues Hirata, Luiz Carlos Dias Rocha – Pouso Alegre: IFSULDEMINAS, 2020. 1. https://portal.ifsuldeminas.edu.br/images/PDFs/proex/publicacoes_livros/SPG_Brasil_-_E-Book_-_HirataRocha_-_IFSULDEMINAS_1.pdf
Iannucci G, Sacchi G (2021) The evolution of organic market between third-party certification and participatory guarantee systems. Biobased Appl Econ 10:239–251. https://doi.org/10.36253/bae-10470
IBGE - Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (2014) Contas de ecossistemas: espéciesameaçadas de extinção no Brasil. Coordenação de Recursos Naturais e Estudos Ambientais, Coordenação de Contas Nacionais. IBGE: Rio de Janeiro, p 126. https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/index.php/bibliotecacatalogo?view=detalhes&id=2101754. Accessed 19 Oct 2021
IFOAM Organics International (2008) Definition of organic agriculture. 1 as approved by the IFOAM General Assembly in Vignola, Italy in June 2008. https://archive.ifoam.bio/sites/default/files/page/files/doa_portuguese.pdf. Accessed 15 June 2020
Jacques PJ, Jacques JR (2012) Monocropping Cultures into Ruin: The Loss of Food Varieties and Cultural Diversity. Sustainability 4:2970–2997. https://doi.org/10.3390/su4112970
Kaufmann S, Vogl C (2018) Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) in Mexico: a theoretic ideal or everyday practice? Agric Hum Values 35:457–472. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-017-9844-2
Khoury CK, Bjorkman AD, Dempewolf H, Ramirez-Villegas J, Guarino L, Jarvis A, Roeseberg LH, Struik PC (2014) Increasing homogeneity in global food supplies and the implications for food security. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111:4001–4006. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1313490111
Kirk DA, Martin AE, Lindsay KEF (2020) Organic farming benefits birds most in regions with more intensive agriculture. J Appl Ecol 57:1043–1055. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13589
Lawler OK, Allan HL, Baxter PWJ, Castagnino R, Tor MC, Dann LE, Hungerford J, Karmacharya D, Lloyd TJ, López-Jara MJ, Massie GN, Novera J, Rogers AM, Kark S (2021) The COVID-19 pandemic is intricately linked to biodiversity loss and ecosystem health. Lancet Planetary Health 5:840–850. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00258-8
Maggio DR, Campobello D, Sarà M (2018) Lesser kestrel diet and agricultural intensification in the Mediterranean: An unexpected win-win solution? J Nat Convervation 45:122–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2018.08.009
MAPA - Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (2020) Cadastro nacional de Produtores orgânicos, MAPA - ministério da agricultura, pecuária eabastecimento. https://www.gov.br/agricultura/pt-br/assuntos/sustentabilidade/organicos/cadastro-nacional-produtores-organicos
Mexico (2010) Reglamiento de la Ley de productos orgánicos de los estados unidos mexicanos. Diario Oficial de la Federación el 1 de abril de 2010 1–17. https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/542532/1__ReglamentoLPO.01abr10.pdf. Acessed 12 Jul 2022
Nodari RO, Guerra MP (2015) Agroecology: Research Strategies and Values. Estudos Avancados 29:183–207. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-40142015000100010
Padilla M, Fernandez E (2018) We Don’t Want to Be Officially Certified! Reasons and Implications of the Participatory Guarantee Systems. Sustainability 10:1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041142
Pelwing AB, Frank LB, Barros IB (2008) Sementes crioulas: o estado da arte no Rio Grande do Sul. Rev Econ Sociol Rural 46:391–420. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-20032008000200005
Pilling D, Bélanger J, Hoffmann I (2020) Declining biodiversity for food and agriculture needs urgent global action. Nature Food 1:144–147. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-0040-y
Power EF, Kelly DL, Stout JC (2013) Impacts of organic and conventional dairy farmer attitude, behaviour and knowledge on farm biodiversity in Ireland. J Nat Conserv 21:272–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2013.02.002
Pronti A, Coccia M (2021) Multicriteria analysis of the sustainability performance between agroecological and conventional coffee farms in the East Region of Minas Gerais (Brazil). Renewable Agriculture and Food System 36:299–306. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170520000332
Roe D, Seddon N, Elliott J (2019) Biodiversity loss is a development issue: a rapid review of evidence. IIED Issue Paper. IIED, London. https://www.naturebasedsolutionsinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/17636IIED.pdf
Rover OJ, Pugas AS, Gennaro BC, Vittori F, Roselli L (2020) Conventionalization of Organic Agriculture: A Multiple Case Study Analysis in Brazil and Italy. Sustentability 12:6580. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166580
Sartori VC, Theodoro H, Minello LV, Pansera MR, Basso A, Scur L (2020) Plantas Alimentícias Não Convencionais - PANC: resgatando a soberania alimentar e nutricional. Caxias do Sul, RS: Educs, p 118. https://www.ucs.br/site/midia/arquivos/ebook-plantas-alimenticias.pdf. Acessed 04 Jul 2021
Silva ATR (2015) A conservação da biodiversidade entre ossaberes da tradição e a ciência. Estudos Avançados 29:233–259. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-40142015000100012
Smith R, Grasseni C (2020) Ambivalent solidarities: Food governance reconfigurations in Croatia and Italy. Anthropol Today 36:12–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12552
Templer N, Hauser M, Owamani A, Kamusingize D, Ogwali H, Mulumba L, Onwonga R, Adugna B, Probst L (2018) Does certified organic agriculture increase agroecosystem health? Evidence from four farming systems in Uganda. Int J Agric Sustain 16:150–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2018.1440465
Toledo VM, Barrera-Bassols N (2015) A memória biocultural: a importância ecológica das sabedorias tradicionais. Editora Expressão Popular
WHO (2015) Biodiversity and health. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the World Health Organization (WHO). https://www.who.int/news-room/factsheets/detail/biodiversity-and-health. Accessed 28 Feb 2024
Zimmerer KS, Haan S, Jones AD, Creed-Kanashiro H, Tello M, Carrasco M, Meza K, Amaya FP, Cruz-Garcia GS, Tubbeh R, Olivencia YJ (2019) The biodiversity of food and agriculture (Agrobiodiversity) in the anthropocene: Research advances and conceptual framework. Anthropocene 25:100192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2019.100192
Acknowledgements
We thank the São Paulo Research Foundation – FAPESP, process number 2020/05300-6, which funded this research.
(Agradecemos o financiamento da Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo—Fapesp, processo nº 2020/05300-6). We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for the translation work of Espaço da Escrita.
Funding
This study is part of the thesis project “Limites, desafios e potencialidades do Sistema Participativo de Garantia (SPG) em assentamentos rurais do Estado de São Paulo,” funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation – FAPESP, process number 2020/05300–6.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the data collection, systematization, analysis, and elaboration of the study.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Conflict of interest
We declare no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Brito, T.P., de Souza-Esquerdo, V.F. & Tasca, L.H.C. Agrobiodiversity in Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS). Org. Agr. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-024-00468-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-024-00468-3