Aprosoja project promotes storage in MT

Every year the scene repeats itself during the corn harvest in Mato Grosso: tons of open-air grains form “mountains” near the trading companies. With soybean and corn harvests estimated at 59,3 million tons this year, according to a survey by the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea), storage capacity is 33,4 million tons.

Considering the requirements of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), a United Nations body that determines a storage capacity greater than 20% of production, Mato Grosso's deficit is currently just over 37 million tons.

Exactly to start changing the reality experienced by Mato Grosso farmers, the Association of Soy and Corn Producers of Mato Grosso (Aprosoja) launched the Armazena-MT project this July. “The main objective is to reduce bureaucracy in access to credit and assist in possible technical difficulties that our members may experience”, explains the association’s Agricultural Policy manager, Frederico Azevedo.

The project's objectives are also to encourage credit lines for the construction of more attractive warehouses; the dissemination of alternative storage solutions and the gradual implementation of condominium culture, which are aimed mainly at small producers without the economic viability to build their own warehouses.

It is also part of the project to identify the main advantages of having your own warehouse. “We minimize the quantitative and qualitative losses of grains; lower transportation costs, greater agility in harvesting and the possibility of scheduling marketing. All of this, in the end, represents a significant improvement in the competitiveness of Mato Grosso farmers”, says Azevedo.

Producer and Northern vice-president of Aprosoja, Emerson Zancanaro has had a warehouse on his property, in the municipality of Nova Mutum, since 2002. For him, own storage means security.

“Storage should be the main investment today on a rural property. We are able to have better management of the marketing of production, as I can decide the best time to sell. Furthermore, storage simplifies the issue of logistics at the time of delivery and means I have a much lower operational cost. The cost of drying on the farm is also lower. Furthermore, with the constant problems of divergence in the classification of grains, those who have a warehouse are able to standardize the product, avoiding discounts by buyers, transforming what would be a discount into profitability,” he defines.

Information - Rural producers in Mato Grosso interested in better understanding how Armazena-MT works can seek out Aprosoja's Agricultural Policy area. The telephone number is (65) 3644-4215 or politica.agricola@aprosoja.com.br