Plantas Alimentícias Não Convencionais (PANC) no sul do Rio Grande do Sul: seleção e caracterização de espécies estratégicas em processos de transição agroecológicos através de metodologia participativa

Abstract

Historically, food plants have been of great importance to humanity. Over time, a few plants were prioritized to the detriment of a diversity of possibilities, to meet the interests of a hegemonic industrial-mechanized agriculture, with the unforeseen justification of solving world hunger. Neglected food plants and others with food potential that have been recently discovered have been brought together under the concept of Non-Conventional Edible Plants (NCEP). Among the main holders of knowledge related to them are peasant farmers, who maintain an intimate relationship with the agroecosystem that surrounds them. The general objective was to integrate popular knowledge from family farmers and technical-scientific knowledge about NCEP known by farmers in the south of Rio Grande do Sul, describing aspects of development and identifying multifunctionalities of priority species. To this end, the research consisted of a qualitative and participatory methodology. Selected farmers from different municipalities in the south of Rio Grande do Sul, who were interviewed, and active participants were invited to participate as collaborators in the research through the citizen science methodology, by monitoring the development of some NCEP species and observing other relevant characteristics in the context of agroecology. Some priority NCEP species were selected to be characterized and monitored, guided by pre-established criteria and in a participatory manner. For one year, from March 2022 to February 2023, the in situ development and associated characteristics of the selected taxa were monitored by collaborators. During the process, visits to family production units, informal conversations, photographs and botanical collections of the monitored specimens were carried out. To analyze the collected data, the content analysis technique was used. As a result, 12 collaborators/farming families participated in the research and 11 local NCEP taxa were identified as priorities. They are: bananinha-do-mato (Bromelia antiacantha), beldroega (Portulaca oleracea), buva (Conyza bonariensis), chal-chal (Allophylus edulis), erva-de-pinto (Stellaria media), língua-de-vaca (Rumex spp.), mastruz (Coronopus didymus), picão-branco (Galinsoga parviflora), picão-preto (Bidens pilosa), serralha (Sonchus oleraceus) e tansagem (Plantago spp.). For each one, the systematized data resulted in a wealth of information about occurrence environment, multifunctionalities and life cycle. From the systematization of information and immersion in scientific literature, the importance of research focusing on understanding, characterizing and visualizing species present naturally in agroecosystems became evident. Research from the perspective of citizen science provided knowledge exchange, mutual learning and closer ties. Further studies of this type are encouraged, involving people, plants and knowledge.