Process of innovation: a case study of the adoption of organic rice production system linked to NEMA

Abstract

The rice agribusiness in Rio Grande do Sul state is facing at least two major problems: the low price of the rice bag paid to the producer and the environmental impacts caused by the logic of productivity. These two issues are related to the discussion on the implementation of new technologies, as: the adoption organic agriculture. In this sense, evolutionary theory seeks to understand the process of technological change. Within this theoretical approach, the framework micro-meso-macro is highlighted. This one attempts to explain innovation as the result of a process involving a multilevel structure of rules, which evolves over time. In this context, the following research question is made: what are the rules of multilevel structures that are contributing to the adoption of organic production system associated with the Center for Environmental Education and Monitoring (NEMA)? The results have highlighted the importance of including “NGOs” and research firms as actors “structuring”; the “government” as the creator of “specific demands”; as well as to analyze the “natural resources” like possible “barriers” to the adoption of organic rice production system. Regarding the dynamics of the rules, the results give a first indication of the evolution of these over the adoption of new systems of production process.