Brazil surprises us with every kilometer driven

In August, I gave a lecture there and passed through Cristalina, a municipality in Goiás, which I see as an extraordinary agribusiness! There, there are signs that say: “Cristalina, world center for crystals”.

In the car, on the road, I saw land being worked and transformed into wealth. Upon arriving in the city of Paracatu, I experienced a whole day of discussions. The themes were about science, technology and how to develop the other gold, the gold of agribusiness on land.

But the surprising thing is Brazil. Arrive in the city and look to the left as you come from Brasília and see the largest open-pit gold mine: Kinross Paracatu. Our country is impressive.

The gold mine was at a standstill. The reason? Lack of water for extraction. Central Brazil is dry, and fires burn alongside the roads.

At the Agribusiness Trends Seminar, held by Sebrae-MG in Paracatu, cooperatives and young people showed their startups. College students, producers and a rural producer called on everyone to come together in a cooperative with an irrigation project.

Brazil needs to have much more irrigation than it has, as it means production security from an uncontrollable factor: water. It will also be through the intelligent management of these waters that we will have food, wealth, and ironically, even the gold of Paracatu. Without water there will be no gold.

Brazil: land of riches beneath the earth and new riches above the earth.