The Programa de Pós-graduação em Agricultura Orgânica – PPGAO offers a Master’s degree in Organic Agriculture). The PPGAO proposal was authorized in 2009 by Deliberation of the council in Education, Research and Extension of UFRRJ. On March 8, 2010, the Coordination for the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) authorized its operation and the first group began its activities.

The PPGAO was the first Postgraduate Course at UFRRJ with partial association with a company, Embrapa Agrobiologia. The Master’s degree in Organic Agriculture is issued by UFRRJ. The course also has the effective participation of Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Pesagro-Rio) in the faculty and as collaborators in various disciplines. This is due to a history of inter-institutional partnership that dates back to the emergence of organic agriculture in the state of Rio de Janeiro, consolidating regional and national demands, with significant social insertion.

The Master in Organic Agriculture aims to integrate theoretical and practical knowledge related to the management of organic production systems, required for the training and qualification of professionals to work in teaching, research, rural extension, technical consultancy and management, and in this way contribute to the expansion of Organic Agriculture in Brazil.

Classes are in-person and taught in classrooms at the Centro de Formação em Agroecologia e Agricultura Orgânica (CFAAO) located in the Integrated Agroecological Production System, better known as Fazendinha Agroecológica Km 47 (Embrapa Agrobiologia-Pesagro/Rio-UFRRJ Agreement).

With regard to the profile of the professional to be trained, there is currently a lack of professionals in
the labor market with training in the field of Organic Agriculture, to work in the public and private
sectors and non-governmental organizations. In response to this demand, it is intended to train
professionals:

– With an understanding of the principles, philosophy and concepts of organic agriculture;

– Endowed with a scientific and technological base related to organic agriculture to produce
and disseminate scientific and technological knowledge, related to the development and
conduction of organic production systems;

– With the ability to plan, manage, assist and execute projects of organic production systems.