The paper analyzes the adoption of agro-ecological techniques by a group of small family farmers in a region of the State of Paraná. The sample of the farmers to be interviewed was obtained by applying a methodology of fast rural assessment and relied on the work of a non governmental organization (AS-PTA) that has the major responsible for the technological change in the region. A typology of producers and agrarian systems was obtained, which made it possible to evaluate the technological trajectories followed. A negative correlation was observed between the capitalization level of the farm unity and the adoption of agro-ecological techniques, suggesting that the latter are being introduced as a low risk strategy to improve the production conditions within a context of labor abundance and capital scarcity. The paper concludes that it is worth to support those farmers in their decision through more focused public policies (credit and scientific research).