Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
5 min of reading 
0 comments 
Francisco Edvan, a farmer who has lived on a farm in the interior of Roraima since 2019, created a bean shelling machine that transforms a day-long task into minutes. The prototype was selected for the National Fair of Machines and Technologies for Family Farming in Campinas, São Paulo, and returned awarded, placing a rural inventor from Roraima on the map of Brazilian agricultural innovation.
A farmer from the interior of Roraima has just proven that innovation in the countryside does not depend on laboratories, millionaire budgets, or engineering degrees. Francisco Edvan, 32, has lived on a farm since 2019, where he works with family farming and faced a routine that any small producer knows: manually shelling green beans consumed the entire day, taking time that could be used for other farm tasks. From necessity, a solution was born. Edvan developed a shelling machine that does in minutes the work that previously required hours of manual labor.
The creation was not restricted to the farm. The prototype attracted attention and was selected for the inventors’ contest at the National Fair of Machines and Technologies for Family Farming, held in Campinas, São Paulo. Edvan traveled from Roraima to São Paulo, presented the machine, and returned with an award, an achievement he describes as gratifying for representing the work of a rural inventor who brought the state’s name to a national event. Now, the farmer is preparing to patent the invention and bring the technology to other producers.
How the bean shelling machine works and what it changes in the routine
Band Journalism
According to information released by Band Journalism, the shelling machine created by Edvan mechanically processes green beans, separating the grains from the pod without the manual effort that the traditional process requires. What previously took an entire day to complete is now done in minutes, freeing the farmer to dedicate themselves to other farm activities such as planting, irrigation, and harvesting other crops. The time saving is the most immediate benefit, but not the only one.
-
For the first time this century, the corn area in Europe is expected to fall below 8 million hectares because the war in Iran caused fertilizer prices to skyrocket, and farmers are switching to sunflower, which offers better margins.
-
An inland city in Santa Catarina produces almost 600,000 tons of meat per year, enough to supply the whole of Brazil 14 times, and single-handedly slaughters over 4 million pigs, accounting for more than a quarter of the state’s total production.
-
While the world knows Brazil for its common coffee, China is opening its doors to Brazilian specialty coffees with quality certification and traceability, and a single fair in Shanghai showed that this market could yield more than US$100 million for the country.
-
Exports give a boost to Brazilian agribusiness and maintained its strength in January, with proteins, vegetable oils, food, and beverages offsetting some of the losses in sectors that depend more on the domestic market.
The reduction of physical effort also matters. Manual bean shelling is a repetitive task that causes wear and tear on the hands and back, especially when the production volume is large. For small producers operating under a family farming system without hired employees, every hour saved in post-harvest is an hour gained for rest or for activities that generate additional income. Edvan says that the time he had for rest was consumed by working with beans, and that after the machine, the work was done without sacrifice.
The story of the inventor who left his farm in Roraima and was awarded in Campinas
Francisco Edvan is neither an engineer nor does he have a technical background in mechanics. He is a farmer who lives off the land and solved a practical problem with the tools and knowledge he had available. The idea for the machine arose from the heavy routine on the farm, where bean shelling was the most time-consuming and tiring task of the production cycle. Edvan began designing the equipment in the intervals between agricultural activities, dedicating rest hours and nights to the development of the prototype.
The result first attracted local attention and then gained national scale. The prototype was selected for the National Fair of Machines and Technologies for Family Farming in Campinas, one of the main events in the sector in Brazil, where inventors and researchers present solutions aimed at small producers. The trip from Roraima to São Paulo represented much more than a competition for Edvan: it was the validation that an idea born in the countryside can compete with projects from universities and research centers.
What the award represents for family farming in Roraima
Edvan’s achievement in Campinas has a meaning that goes beyond individual recognition. Roraima is one of the least visible states in the Brazilian agricultural innovation landscape, and having a rural farmer awarded in a national competition puts the state on the map of a sector that moves billions of reais and employs millions of families. For other small producers in the region, the example demonstrates that solutions created in the field can have recognized value outside of it.
Family farming accounts for a significant portion of the food consumed in Brazil, but historically receives less investment in technology than large-scale agribusiness. Industrial threshing machines exist, but they are expensive and sized for volumes that do not make sense for those who cultivate only a few hectares. Edvan’s invention fills a gap that the industry does not address: offering accessible mechanization suitable for the scale of the small producer, where every real invested needs to pay for itself quickly.
Next steps: patent and production for other farmers
Edvan is now working to patent the threshing machine, a necessary step to protect the invention and enable its mass production. Patent registration ensures that the farmer retains the rights to the equipment they created and can negotiate licensing or manufacturing with companies interested in bringing the technology to other states where beans are cultivated by families.
The challenge of the next phase is to transform a handmade prototype into a replicable product. For the machine to reach other producers, it will be necessary to standardize materials, define manufacturing costs, and establish distribution channels that reach farmers in regions where access to agricultural equipment is limited. If the patenting process is successful, the invention of a farmer from Roraima could become a working tool on farms and small rural properties throughout Brazil.
What Edvan’s story says about innovation in Brazilian agriculture
Francisco Edvan’s journey is a reminder that innovation is not born only in laboratories and universities. It also arises from those who face real problems every day and do not find a ready-made solution in the market. The farmer who dedicated nights and rest hours to assemble a machine on his farm in Roraima did what many development programs try to stimulate: identified a need, created a functional prototype, and brought it to a space where it could be evaluated and recognized.
For the family farming sector, stories like Edvan’s show that the potential for innovation is distributed throughout the country, including in states that rarely appear in technology headlines. The beans that are now shelled in minutes instead of hours are proof that a good idea, combined with persistence and practical knowledge, can change the routine of those who live off the land and inspire other producers to seek solutions for the challenges they face daily.
Do you know any rural inventors in your region or have you seen machines created by farmers that solve everyday problems? Tell us in the comments what you thought of Edvan’s story and if you believe that innovation in family farming receives the attention it deserves in Brazil.
Be the first to react!