Brazil's Landless Rural Workers' Movement uses small Chinese agricultural machinery to advance family farming mechanization in the Northeast, boosting agroecology scaling and agricultural reindustrialization.
This article uses Erhai Lake as a case to show how technological cooperation drives rural revitalization under strict environmental policies. Through science courtyards and circular waste utilization, ecology and economy achieve a win–win “Chinese solution.”
Trophobiosis is a field of knowledge that allows us to understand that pests and diseases do not attack any plant at random, but only those that serve as suitable food for that particular pest or disease.
As humanity steps into a new era of comprehensive digitalisation, technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things are reshaping industries with unprecedented depth and breadth—including agriculture.
We present an excerpt from the article ‘China in Three Acts’ written by Suzi Huff Theodoro, professor in the Postgraduate Programme in Environment and Rural Development at the University of Brasilia (UnB).
On the vast lands of Brazil, about 77% of agricultural production units are family farms, with tens of millions of farmers bearing the responsibility of feeding the nation. Unlike the highly mechanised agro-industrial systems, around 70% of the food on Brazilians’ tables is produced by smallholder farmers. Yet, these farmers have long faced multiple challenges: outdated farming tools, labour shortages, and stalled land reform. For them, using agricultural machinery is not only a matter of improving productivity—it is also a pursuit of social justice, a form of daily resistance and perseverance. This makes new cooperation and transformation especially urgent and necessary.
How ecological interactions between producers, consumers and decomposers shape ecosystems - and how understanding this dynamic is essential for agroecological management.
Effective nutrient management enhances soil fertility, maximises crop productivity, and minimises nutrient losses.
The colonisation of peoples is not limited to territory, but also to knowledge and all that this entails, because it is by crushing and denying popular traditions that capital is strengthened.
The Brazil-China Centre for Research, Development and Promotion of Technology and Mechanisation for Family Farming was inaugurated at the University of Brasilia (UnB) in an event attended by the Chinese Minister of Education, the authorities of UnB and leaders of the MST.
The article addresses the benefits of covering soils with grasses and the need to change the approach towards spontaneous species, those that the agroindustry vulgarly and erroneously began to call “weeds” to justify the juicy business of poisons, herbicides and other synthetics inputs.
Earthworms are known as “ecosystem engineers” and play a huge role in the soil's material cycle, microflora metabolism, ecological balance and energy transfer, which can also be utilised in agroecology.
This is the second article in the ecological construction series being developed by ROOTS. We look at the building process of the Florestan Fernandes National School in Guararema, which was inaugurated in 2005 after a five-year construction process.
The development of agriculture is directly related to urbanisation and life in cities. During the 20th century, Urban Agriculture (UA) experiences gained prominence in different historical and geographical contexts, especially after the Second World War. What are these experiences about and how are they linked to food sovereignty?
Agroforestry systems (AFS) take advantage of land use to combine various agricultural crops and/or animals with forest species. A practice commonly found in family farming, it reconciles increased productivity and profitability with environmental protection and improved quality of life for rural populations, promoting sustainable agricultural development.
On the earth, there is a special ecological strip, where there are four distinct seasons. In this area, the weather is warm and humid during the summer, and cold and dry during the winter. These unique geographic and climatic conditions have created a rare type of soil - the black soil.
Here, we will present some important elements for understanding biodynamic agriculture, how it was conceived and developed over a period of almost 100 years, being considered by those who practice and experience it as much more than a method of agricultural production without poisons and chemical fertilizers.
Bioconstruction is a construction method with low environmental impact that promotes harmony between the natural and built environments, uses natural and/or less-processed materials, and considers local climate conditions, management of available resources, renewable energy and waste treatment
Santiago Liaudat is a professor and researcher at the National University of La Plata (Argentina), Specialist in Latin American Studies and Master in Science, Technology and Society. He is a member of the Latin American Thinking Network on Science, Technology and Society (PLACTS Network). He has published extensively on the link between capitalism and knowledge, intellectual property and the role of knowledge in the economy. In this first edition, Raíces interviewed him to discuss the relationship between science, technology, development and dependence.
Study suggests converting agri-food waste into feedstock to leverage circular bioeconomy - Portal Embrapa Agri-food losses and waste generated in massive volumes from agroindustrial operations and consumption could be transformed into several products with high added value, such as bioplastics and advanced materials, to boost the so-called circular bioeconomy. This is shown in a joint study conducted by researchers from Embrapa, the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), and institutions from Finland, Austria, and Canada.
