One of the most serious problems faced by public organizations is the loss of knowledge transfer, staff turnover and retirements, it has as a consequence the loss of know-how and intellectual capital, since a lot of information, knowledge and important details of the work processes , are still kept only in people's minds. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify from the perception of managers of a public service and extension of knowledge management, for this we used the model of Diagnostic Knowledge Management proposed by Bukowitz and Williams (2002). The institution studied is a body of non-formal education in northeastern Brazil that runs public policy of technical assistance and rural extension that benefit family farmers. This is a case study of the field with a quantitative and descriptive method. Data were recorded on spreadsheets and instructions were used on the model chosen for calculation of results. The results indicate a contradiction: an organization that disseminates knowledge to farmers, has no formal internal management of the knowledge it produces. Moreover, the research institution is the creator of knowledge, however, this is not considered core business, so it does not generate constant innovation.
knowledge management; diagnosis knowledge management; technical assistance and rural extension
