This iswhere i belong
At the age of 17,
Douglas Luiz Etges
lives in his community and is convinced
about his future: he wants to stay in the
farm and help his parents Geóvio and
Silvane Etges in conducting their busi-
nesses. Living in the district of Boa Vis-
ta, in the interior of Santa Cruz do Sul
(RS), Douglas has changed his plans
over the past three years. “My dream
had been to leave the countryside and
find a job in town”, he recalls. Following
on the heels of a friend, he enrolled in
the Family FarmSchool in Santa Cruz do
Sul (Efasc), in 2014, where he definitely
broadened his horizons.
Now about to conclude his course,
he is making plans to expand the pro-
duction of organic food crops on the 8o-hectare farm, where the other family members grow tobacco and vegetables in the con-
ventional system. His tests with farmmanagement without pesticides have been on a rising trend and generating results that en-
courage the young entrepreneur. In early 2016, along with other three colleagues and a former student of Efasc, Etges idealized
and put into practice an organic fair in his district. It is open on Saturdays. “Now, I hold in high esteem everything we have and I
am sure that this is where I belong”, he concludes.
Lula Helfer
