ANALYSIS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL VIABILITY OF AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES ADOPTED

The agroecology represents a new focus to the study and management of alternative agricultural systems, andhas offered a theoretical framework whose purpose is to analyze the agricultural processes widely, in otherwords, see agriculture from a systemic approach, highlighting the sustainability inherent to the natural cycles andbiological interactions. Alternative practices of agricultural management has been recently adopted by familyfarmers in Lagoa Seca city - PB, aiming to protect the environment from the intense degrading actions of theconventional agriculture, as well as to improve the farmers life quality. This way, this study aims to identify theagroecological practices which have been adopted by the family farmers in different transition stages,highlighting the local experiences which were experienced and its environmental viability to the region,considering the agroecology principles as a steering mechanism and determinant for such analysis. Therefore,this study has been performed through a based questionnaire, observation in loco and the application of a semistructured interview. The obtained data through this research have revealed that the adopted practices byagroecological farmers from Lagoa Seca have provided the soil, water and local biota conservation, ensuring themaintenance in long term of these natural resources to the current and future generations, besides to promote anincrease in the life quality of the farmers and their families.