Planning and executing a research project using the PMBOK guide

The concern with the sustainability of agricultural production has encouraged the search for alternative management of soil fertility, increasing the use of by-products as filter cake. Despite some studies proved its technical viability, it is not verified the widespread used. The aim of this work was to plan and execute a research project to obtain an overview of the perception of researchers and rural producers about the use of filter cake in the fertilization of sugarcane culture, using the PMBOK guide. The planning and execution of the study project addressed two areas of knowledge in project management: scope and time. A questionnaire was made on Google Forms platform for the main stakeholders’s project (rural producers, researchers and employees in the sugar and alcohol sector). The participants understood that the search for sustainability in the sugarcane cultivation is not only a market trend, but also a strategy for their business and/or research, and that they are up-to-date on the trends in the sector in which they work and are in agreement with their aim of achieving a more sustainable production system. The main factors considered as drivers for the use of the byproduct, were also mentioned as the main obstacles for its use in agricultural (price and dependence on distributors). We concluded that the project stakeholders have a positive perception about the use of filter cake as a fertilizer in the sugarcane production. We suggest the creation of public policies to support by-products’s use since agricultural sustainability is a national interest.