The research is aimed to clarify the relevant relationships between structural variables of the popular agricultural knowledge system and structural variables at the level of local rural development, as a foundation to promote the transformation of productive agribusiness. Such relationships are delineated from the literature review, taking as a reference point approaches associated with the popular knowledge and new rurality and the theory of local development. Epistemologically the article has as framework the rationalist deductive stream, taking as reference a theoretical model, that specifies the relevant relationships between the variables under study. In this orientation, the article is divided into five sections: the first deals with the theory of local development and the design of the new rurality, In the second part it is emphasized the popular agricultural knowledge, the third part argues the methodological approach, the fourth section presents the theoretical findings, and the fifth, presents some final considerations to conclude.