A single survey by the Brazilian Research Company (Embrapa), a bio-assumption formulated with bacteria that fixes nitrogen from the air and which currently reaches 33.9 million hectares of soybeans, allowed farmers and the country to save R $ 42.3 billion – about 14 times the Company’s annual budget – only in the last harvest. With this innovation, farmers need not spend on nitrogen fertilizer. This is just one example of the result of science applied to Brazilian agriculture.
Examples such as this have made the country one of the world’s largest food producers and have consolidated a revolution in the agriculture of the tropical strip of the planet. The picture is quite different from four decades ago, when Brazil was known for producing sugar and coffee, but it imported practically everything else, and even basic foods like rice, milk or beans.
Embrapa will announce next week the results of its new Social Balance, prepared from the evaluation of the impact of 113 technologies and about 200 cultivars adopted and made available in 2017. study, whose details will only be announced in a solemnity on the 24th, in Brasília-DF, will show a social profit of R $ 37.18 billion last year and that for each real applied in the Company were returned R $ 11.06 to the company.
“The Social Balance is a proof that investment in agricultural research has changed the logic of Brazilian field development,” says Lúcia Gatto, Director of Institutional Management at Embrapa, explaining that in the 1970s it was decided to make solid investments in innovation for agricultural area, based on human resources training, network research and focus on farmers’ problems. The objective was to ensure that Brazil could achieve its food security.
Embrapa, the network of universities, technical assistance, state research agencies, many and many partnerships and an entrepreneurial spirit of the farmers not only made Brazil reach food security for its population, but also made it possible to export surpluses to almost all markets in the world. Also: it has helped to reduce the value of the basic food basket by 50% and, each year, it increases Brazil’s presence among the world’s largest food exporters, making the country a leader in agricultural innovation in the tropical world – and where food for an ever-growing population.
Brazilian agriculture is today one of the most efficient and sustainable in the world. It incorporated to the productive systems a large area of degraded lands of the Cerrados, region that today is responsible for almost 50% of the national production of grains. The supply of beef and pork was quadrupled and that of chicken, increased by 22 times. In the last 46 years, Brazil increased grain production by 555.6%, without expanding the area planted in large proportions (163.43%). Crises of supply of basic products, such as beans, rice and chicken, remained as souvenirs of the 1970s and 1980s. If in the past the Brazilian only consumed certain fruits and vegetables (such as grapes and carrots) in specific months, today they are present shelves all year round.
“If Brazil has achieved the position of influential global actor in two sectors of vital importance, the environment and food security, this is a consequence of the work of science, coupled with the determination and daring of the productive sector. broadened to strengthen the bases that will guarantee the quality of life for all on the planet, “argues the Director of Research&Development of Embrapa, Celso Moretti. According to him, the knowledge generated by science helps legislators to produce decisions that directly reflect on the economy and society.
Subsidies for public policies
But agricultural research does not only contribute to new seeds, more efficient production systems, pest control, equipment, softwares, genetic improvement or subsidies for the farmer to make the best decision possible. Intellectual property, transgenic and forest code are some examples of broad-ranging issues and social impact that are benefited by the qualified contribution of the research.
A little perceived contribution of the research is the technological support for the Low Carbon Agriculture Plan (Plano ABC), aimed at stimulating the rural producer to develop its activity with less environmental impact and, thus, to reduce carbon emissions. It is a measure taken by Brazil to meet the commitment made at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 15) in 2009. The main related technologies are the recovery of degraded pastures, the expansion of the area with crop-livestock-forest integration (ILPF) , with reforestation and with no-tillage of quality, and the expansion of areas that make use of biological nitrogen fixation and initiatives for the use of solid waste.
Another case, little remembered, is the ZARC (Agricultural Climate Risk Zoning), which, in practice, made fraudsters with agricultural insurance disappear from the news. It is a mapping of the production areas that indicates the best planting dates of more than 40 crops for each Brazilian municipality, reducing the risk of losses due to climatic factors. Agricultural zoning is now the basis for Brazilian agricultural insurance.
The most recent proof, launched in early March of this year, is the Territorial Intelligence System of Macrologistics of Agropecuária Brasileira, which gathers, on a geo-referenced basis, data systematized by Embrapa on agricultural production, storage and harvest routes within the domestic market and for export. The novelty, which can be accessed by any citizen, allows to generate several studies and extract from this big data strategic information for the planning of public policies and the productive sector.
Future and Vision 2030
FAO estimates indicate that by 2050 agricultural production will need to grow globally by 70%, and almost 100% in developing countries, to feed the growing population, excluding demand for biofuels. Thus, the challenges for Embrapa and its partners are enormous and require a close look at the future. In addition to the traditional areas, the Company has invested heavily in state-of-the-art technologies such as plant and animal genomes sequencing, cloning, nanotechnology and digital agriculture.
Still, the view is that you need to change to fit the demands of a permanent process of transformation. “The Company continues to move, seeking to adjust to technological and social changes and increase its efficiency, simplifying its processes, so in February we began the biggest administrative change in our history, reducing from 15 to six the administrative areas of headquarters , in Brasilia, with severed functions and alteration of the entire structure and processes, “says Maurício Lopes, president of the state.
By the end of 2017, Embrapa had already reduced the number of research and innovation units from 46 to 42, with the extinction of five service units. Also last year, it adopted a new Statute, aligned with the State Law and produced under the guidance of the Secretariat for Coordination and Governance of State Enterprises (SEST) and the Ministry of Planning, Development and Management. Reflecting the structural changes that are being implemented, the entire management of research programming is also undergoing a major reform, with the main objective of increasing Embrapa’s innovation capacity and bringing the Company closer to productive chains.
Changes will also redirect the future of Embrapa. The document “Vision 2030: The Future of Brazilian Agriculture”, which consolidates global and national signs and trends on the main transformations in agriculture in scientific, technological, social, economic and environmental issues and its potential impacts, will be launched at its 45 year anniversary. . “Vision 2030” will have digital and printed versions and will provide a basis for the strategic planning of public and private science, technology and innovation organizations (CT&I). At Embrapa, it will particularly support the company’s new strategies and priorities, the production of the next master plan and, consequently, the work of its 2,448 researchers.
Edson Bolfe, coordinator of Embrapa’s Strategic Intelligence System (Agropensa) and the production of the document, says that “in the effort of analyzing and prospecting scenarios, we sought to anticipate transformations and, thus, contribute to the definition of guidelines that guide the research, development and innovation programming (PD&I) with a focus on the sustainable development of agriculture “. The document presents perspectives and the main scientific, technological and organizational challenges based on analyzes of internal and external environment, national and international and in line with the Agenda 2030, established by the United Nations Organizations (UNO) from 17 Sustainable Development Objectives ).
One of the highlights is the identification of seven megatrends: Socioeconomic and Spatial Changes in Agriculture; Intensification and Sustainability of Agricultural Production Systems; Climate Change; Risks in Agriculture; Aggregation of Value in Agricultural Productive Chains; Consumer Leadership; and Technological and Knowledge Convergence in Agriculture. The publication explores aspects related to each of the megatrends and suggests, for example, challenges and opportunities.
In line with the Vision 2030 document, the Olhares 2030 digital platform will also be launched, which will gather opinion articles from 90 experts from different areas, with projections and expectations of possible paths for the sustainable development of Brazilian agriculture. The articles were grouped in the seven megatrends, synthesizing the main transformative forces of Brazilian agriculture for the coming years.
According to the director of Innovation and Technology, Cleber Soares, Embrapa has made a great effort to “give agility, more attention to the end-activity and get closer to the market of technological innovations and producers. the institution continues to fulfill its mission. “The effort is to ensure the optimization of processes and the Company’s focus on innovation and proximity to the market, including the expansion of public and private partnerships.
“Ability to influence is part of the Embrapa Mission and will be the motivational basis for the changes we are promoting to align ourselves more and more effectively with the relevant agendas of the country, make right choices and define and pursue impact goals that can prove the quality of our deliveries to society, “concludes President Mauricio Lopes.