A strategic planning process has been implemented at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Agency (Embrapa) to introduce sustainable agriculture concepts in all steps of Research and Development (R&D). An essential part of the devised mission statement called for the impact assessment of all technology innovation resulting from R&D, under field conditions (ex-post). However, methods for impact assessment of technology innovations at the farmstead level appropriate for the institutional context were lacking. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) system (AMBITEC-AGRO) developed to attend that demand is composed by a set of weighing matrices constructed in an electronic spreadsheet. Impact indicators are evaluated in the field in an interview/survey, and weighed according to their spatial scale and importance toward effecting environmental impacts. The results of these weighing procedures are expressed graphically in the assessment spreadsheets. Finally, the indicator evaluations are composed into an Environmental Impact Index for the agricultural technology innovation.
According to feed producers, aquaculture in Brazil generates an annual income of about US $200 million and is growing at an annual rate of 15%. More than 300,000 people are involved, including fish and shrimp farmers, feed companies, technicians and equipment manufacturers. The growth of the aquaculture industry has given rise to concerns about such environmental issues as water pollution and the conversion of land to ponds. "Fee-fishing" is the maintenance of ponds so that people can fish from them, primarily by line, usually for an entrance fee and for a fee paid per kilogram of fish caught. Attendant activities on the farm site, such as restaurants and ecorural tourism, also generate considerable revenues. Fee-fishing started on marginal areas unsuitable for agriculture or other activities, but it has recently expanded rapidly to occupy former farmland and areas of land close to the large urban centers. Fee-fishing either supplements the income or is the main source of income for many people. It generates $60 million (U.S.) per year at the
Professor e ambientalista Camilo Vianna, verdadeiro simbolc de l t a e re0istªncia em defesa E para: t t a l ' " i a S:í: lvia, Luis Felipe e Ana Luisa, qLle tornaram suportável este -tt•-abalho em:i.nentemen•te sol :i. tário. AGRADECIMENTOS Plqlr'C:
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