THE ORGANIC GRAPE IN ITALIAN COLONIZATION REGION FROM NORTHEAST OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL

The experience of the agriculturists of Ecovêneto from Cotiporã (RS)

Abstract

The Italian Colonization Region (ICR) from Northeast of Rio Grande do Sul has cultural characteristics present in its territory that are strongly linked to the occupation process and initial settlement of the southern space from 1875 by Italian settlers. The work dedicated to grape and wine production falls within this context and over the years this craft has become the main agricultural activity of ICR. Since the first vines that were planted in the region, they maintain their wine tradition centered on the family nucleus in which different generations of the same family share the same work environment, the family farm with the cultivation of vineyards. This is the case of the municipality of Cotiporã, which has a significant number of family farmers, mostly descendants of the first Italian settlers who settled where it is now located the municipality. They continued to dedicate themselves to grape and wine culture, making the municipality one of the largest grape producers in the state. Most of the grapes grown at the ICR are made along the lines of conventional agriculture. However, in Cotiporã, a group of farmers decided to convert the vineyards from the conventional to the organic system. Thus, this article seeks to understand the reasons that have driven the agricultural paradigm shift in the municipality. The methodological procedures that guided the research were: bibliographic review, semi-structured interviews, fieldwork and analysis of the data and collected documents.