Dois enfoques conceituais para a pesquisa científica sobre sistemas locais de sementes

Family farmers’ knowledge applied in local seeds management practices is often disregarded by institutional agricultural science, although they keep playing a central role in the conservation of genetic resources key for food security which are developed in the context of agricultural systems more resilient to the effects of climate change. The same knowledge that can be overlooked in their epistemic credentials can be valued as important sources for gene prospection of interest to the industry and as raw materials for the development of commercial seeds. The ecology of knowledge of Boaventura de Souza Santos and the methodological pluralism proposed by Hugh Lacey are used comparatively to discuss such contradiction. Research strategies are presented to investigate the soundness of traditional knowledge embedded in traditional seed varieties.