Embrapa develops app to adapt to the organic farmer's reality

Embrapa is developing an application to assist organic food producers in the participatory certification process. In addition to saving time, replacing paper pages with a digital system generates a database for managing production and marketing, especially through associations and cooperatives. However, the challenge is greater than simply delivering a smartphone application; it is to create a user-friendly tool for farmers with very little familiarity with this type of product.

Our goal is to deliver a simple, efficient tool that is fully aligned with the real needs of users, strengthening information management in organic production," summarized researcher Gisele Freitas Vilela, from Embrapa Territorial, leader of the project. Analyst Vanessa Maia Aguiar Magalhães, from Embrapa Gado Leite (MG), adds: "We don't want people to adapt to the system, but for the system to adapt to their reality.

Vanessa is an expert in digital literacy and explains that much of the target audience for the project does not recognize intuitive signs for those who have followed the evolution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). For example, the floppy disk icon is not associated with a save button; fill-in boxes are not recognized as spaces to enter information; buttons may not be understood as such.

Workshops with producers

To understand firsthand the difficulties and how to minimize them, Embrapa is conducting workshops with producers. In September, a team was in Três Cachoeiras (RS), Garopaba (SC) and Ribeirão Claro (PR), with a first version of the app. Farmers installed it along with a tool to record the interaction. This allows the development team to evaluate what works and the difficulties, to reconfigure the app.

Vanessa, who was part of the workshop team, explains that it is also necessary to consider the types of equipment and connection that farmers have. In the case of the project's target audience, mainly small organic producers, it is smartphones with small screens, low-resolution images and limited memory and processing capacity. "We are also facing resistance to digitization. People are afraid, they are ashamed of not knowing how to use it, they are worried that their data will be stolen. So, there is something to be built with them," says the analyst.

Before the workshops in the South, the project team held similar meetings with producers in São Paulo and Minas Gerais. In addition to recording navigation, they also collected information about digital technology usage habits, always with clarification and authorization from the participants, following ethical principles of research with humans. All the material is now being analyzed, for adaptation of language, icons, interface and navigability. Other events to evaluate the new version are planned.

Autonomy

For Vanessa, the main objective is that the user not only be able to use the application, but also to interpret, understand, and master the interface and the knowledge. The goal is to develop a methodology and a tool that allows the producer to operate in a truly autonomous manner, understanding the meaning of each field and each action performed.

She says that even if a more user-friendly application arrives, many producers will still need training and assistance for a while. But this time can be minimized. And, more than being able to use the application, farmers are expected to operate it in a truly autonomous manner, understanding the meaning of each field and each action performed.

Advantages of digitalization

The application is being created specifically for certification organizations managed by farmers themselves, the OPACs and OCSs, to which 65% of organic producers in the country are linked. Reducing the time spent filling out documents is one of the main advantages for producers. The volume of information to be recorded to prove the organic nature of the production is very large and needs to be updated periodically.

If, for example, there is lettuce cultivation, it is necessary to inform the amount of seeds planted, how they were acquired, how much is expected to be harvested, each product used as fertilizer or for the control of diseases and pests, to whom they were sold, among many other information. There is also the need to report general data about the property, such as soil conservation measures, water protection, and waste disposal.

The expectation is that the tool will reduce the time spent recording this information, by maintaining a history, avoiding the need to fill in fields repeatedly with the same information. However, the greatest advantage may lie in the creation of the database. The forms contain information such as production estimates and the most commonly used inputs, which can be used to improve sales and organize collective purchases, for example.

It is also expected that the databases will meet the demand of public bodies for information that guides public policies aimed at the organic sector. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock is a partner in the project. In addition to Embrapa Territorial and Gado de Leite, Embrapa Clima Temperado (RS) is part of the initiative.