Lectures from the 11th CBA are now available on the congress website and app

The 11th Brazilian Cotton Congress (11th CBA) is over, but the information disseminated between August 29th and September 1st can be explored in detail by cotton producers in Brazil on the event websitewww.congressodoalgodao.com.br and in the CBA application, available forsmartphones IOS and Android. In these virtual spaces, congress participants can also print their certificates of participation. The 11th CBA is organized by the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (Abrapa), and was hosted in 2017 in Maceió, with the effective participation of 1,4 registrants, and a program that included 72 lectures, given by 94 renowned professionals in their areas of activity.

 For the president of Abrapa, Arlindo de Azevedo Moura, the knowledge generated by the event is as important after it takes place as it is during it. "This is when the cotton farmer, after being exposed to a large amount of information in the four days of programming, can delve deeper into the topics that sparked his most interest", he states. Moura says that, strategically, the CBA occurs in the period between the end of a harvest and the crucial moment of decisions that precedes the beginning of a new cycle. He highlights the expected growth of 17% in planted area and lint volume for the 2017/18 harvest as a strong demand for technical information from the congress.

According to the scientific coordinator of the CBA, Eleusio Curvelo Freire, except in rare cases in which the speaker did not make the presentations available to the organization, almost all of the content that was presented is already available to the rural producer, and much of this material is studies with measured results, including from an economic point of view. Among the subjects that have most aroused the interest of cotton farmers, Freire highlights biological pest control using the wasp Trichogramma sp, which has proven to be an important biological weapon against the caterpillar complex, as well as viruses and bacteria, increasingly present in the so-called integrated management of pests and diseases in cotton, corn and soybean crops. Techniques aimed at using soil to avoid compaction and increase organic matter content also receive, according to the coordinator, great attention, as do lectures that refer to combating and controlling nematodes.

Viable refuge

Good practices in cotton planting, in the context of innovation and profitability that guided the 11th CBA, are on the producer's radar, and can be found in the summaries of the presentations made available by Abrapa. This is the case with the importance of the so-called refuge areas recommended by the International Resistance Management Committee (IRAC) to prevent the development of caterpillars – especially helicoverpa – resistant to the bacteria's gene. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), present in genetically modified cotton against insect pests.

 

According to the director of the Bahian Association of Cotton Producers (Abapa), Celito Breda, who explained the topic at the 11th CBA – together with the specialist in Biological Sciences, Alexandre Specht and the agronomist Fábio dos Santos – in the summary of his talk The cotton farmer can resolve, with measurable evidence, doubts about the economic viability of the technical guidance on maintaining 20% ​​of Bt-free cotton area close to crops genetically modified with this technology.

 

"This material contains data from various producers, in various regions, proving precisely that the greatest risk of making farming economically unviable lies in not adopting this practice", says Celito Breda. According to him, refuge areas, when implemented in a structured way, favor the crossing of caterpillars that feed on plants with technology, with others that do not eat Bt cotton, increasing genetic diversity. "The result is heterozygous individuals, which will be susceptible to Bt proteins, preventing generations of insects resistant to this GMO from developing and spreading", explains Breda, from the Circulo Verde consultancy. For the expert, the adoption of refuge areas is the main tool for increasing the useful life of Bt cotton and brings economic advantages to the producer, in the medium and long term.

"Today, finally, we have concrete data that prove to us, technically and economically, that the adoption of shelters structured in cotton is viable, in the percentage recommended by IRAC and the Ministry of Agriculture", reinforces the consultant, recommending reading the lecture available in the application and on the CBA website.