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de Paiva Martins Esteves Correia, Helena Maria
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- Family and organic farming. New apprenticeship through m-learningPublication . Costa, Cristina Amaro Da; Correia, Paula; Esteves Correia, Helena; Guiné, Raquel; Gouveia, João paulo; Rodrigues, Pedro; Teixeira, Daniela; Tourino, Luis; Castro, Moises; Basile, SalvatoreRecently, family farming has become a central element in the public debate over its fundamental role in rural areas. Family farms ensure agricultural and forestry production, as well as fishing and grazing, managed by a family that mostly depends on unpaid family labour, both women and men. From the 570 million farms in the world, over 500 million are family farms. There are numerous examples in which, through organic farming, family farming can be lead to new heights of success and innovation, with direct increase in the farm income. The benefits that may accrue from the adoption of organic farming on family farms in Mediterranean countries such as Portugal, Italy and Spain are analysed, together with its impact and major constraints, as well as the contribution that new forms of teaching and learning can give to its spread and success, including through m-learning, as it is the case of the project ECONewFARMERS - Building a future for new farmers in ecological farming through vocational training.
- Building Bio-Districts or Eco-Regions: Participative Processes Supported by Focal GroupsPublication . Dias, Raquel S.; Costa, Daniela; Esteves Correia, Helena; Costa, Cristina Amaro DaOver the years, rural areas have faced a number of problems and difficulties, such as an increase in the average age of the population, desertification, loss of employment and the abandon‐ ment of rural and agricultural activities, which have led to the emergence of new initiatives aimed at revitalizing these territories from a social, economic and environmental perspective, such as the successful Bio‐districts or Eco‐regions (e.g., Bio‐district of Cilento). Understanding and establishing a proper framework for each territory based on agroecology and participatory methodologies is still a challenge. In this sense, based on the analysis of two European examples—Cilento, Italy and São Pedro do Sul, Portugal—we described each of the building processes and defined a set of drivers that might constitute guiding principles to serve as a basis for the creation of Bio‐districts or Eco‐ regions. The drivers’ matrix identified was discussed in three focus groups carried out in Portugal in 2020. Such drivers included a technical and environmental component (the quality of the envi‐ ronment and landscape, the food system and the implementation of organic farming and agroeco‐ logical practices), a social and economic component (valorization of the farmers, products and ter‐ ritories and a set of different stakeholders—farmers, consumers, schools, tourism entities and res‐ taurants, local authorities) and a political component (the governance model). Most participants agreed that the recognition of a Bio‐district or Eco‐region should be informal, bottom‐up, with farm‐ ers as the main pillar, with a fair and representative participation, namely family farmers.
- Professional training in organic food production: a cross-country experiencePublication . Guiné, Raquel; Costa, Daniela; Correia, Paula; Costa, Cristina Amaro Da; Esteves Correia, Helena; Castro, Moises; Guerra, Luis; Seeds, Catherine; Coll, Collette; Radics, Laszlo; Arslan, Meahmet; Soylu, Soner; Tothova, Monika; Toth, Peter; Basile, SalvatorePurpose: The aim of this work was to characterize the agricultural activities and past experience in professional training in the context of mobile learning in different countries (Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Hungary, United Kingdom, Italy and Turkey). Design: For the survey, a questionnaire was prepared in English and Portuguese and then translated into the languages of the participating countries. It was delivered electronically for answering on-line by adults only. The participation was voluntary and in the end 133 consented valid questionnaires were obtained. For the treatment of the data was used SPSS and basic descriptive statistics tools were applied, together with tests, namely crosstabs and chi square tests, considering a level of significance of 5%. Findings: The results showed that the majority of the participants presently have some agricultural activity and one third is thinking about starting one the future. Most of the participants want to produce food in organic mode, with significant differences among the countries at study. Most of the participants were enrolled in training activities in agriculture, especially those with higher education. This participation showed significant differences between countries and also according to the dimension of the farms owned by the participants. A significant association was found between being a teacher in forming activities related to agriculture and being a farmer. When compared to distance learning, the training activities in classroom were the most frequented, with significant differences among the countries. Practical implications: This study allowed characterizing the learning activities in the field of organic agriculture and establish direction lines for planning of future training programs, in different countries, with maybe different social, educational and cultural realities Originality/value: Because the study included the participation of people from several countries all around Europe, the results obtained enrich the scientific area of training in Organic Farming, in view of distance learning versus classroom learning on a more global basis.
- Pest Control in Organic FarmingPublication . Costa, Cristina Amaro Da; Guiné, Raquel; Costa, Daniela Vasconcelos Teixeira; Esteves Correia, Helena; Nave, AnabelaOrganic farming is an environmentally friendly farming system that produces food based on the ecological balance of ecosystems, preventing soil fertility decline or pest problems. It is a proactive alternate approach to intensive agriculture, minimizing its adverse effects and contributing to maintaining soil quality and enhancing biodiversity. Pests represent a threat to crops, causing important damage and economic losses, and therefore they must be controlled. This is especially relevant in organic farming, where the environment and human health should be protected and thus the methods available for pest management are limited. When intervention against pests is necessary, farmers can either use preventive actions or direct control methods, always based on a weighted decision-making process. Regarding the options for pest management, there are often different possibilities, which may vary in efficacy, resource-intensiveness, knowledge and technical skills, and risk. For this reason, risk assessment is essential for efficient use of the available resources and crop protection strategies. This chapter aims to cover different strategies of pest and disease control, from preventive methods to direct intervention methods of different natures.