The tropical agriculture model, based on science, technology and innovation implemented in Brazil, which has made the country one of the main global players in the sector, is the way to strengthen developing countries in the tropical belt, said experts gathered on March 22 for the opening of the International Tropical Agriculture Week (AgriTrop 2021), organized by Embrapa and the International Institute for Cooperation for Agriculture (IICA). The event has more than 1.000 registrants who until Friday (26/03) will follow the contributions of experts from various countries on sustainable basic technologies aimed at the development of tropical agriculture and food security. More information about broadcast links and programming is available at page of the event.
Climate change and the post-pandemic world were mentioned as challenges that lead to the need for closer cooperation between nations in order to reduce social inequalities. “Tropical agriculture is one of the ways to reduce hunger and guarantee peace and food security in countries in the Americas, Africa and Asia,” said former Minister of Agriculture Alysson Paolinelli, nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 and the AgriTrop2021 honoree.
According to Paolinelli, Brazil is a concrete example that science is capable of transforming realities. A food importer in the 1970s, the country is today a global agricultural power, responsible for feeding 800 million people in more than 160 countries. The Brazilian Cerrado, considered unproductive, is one of the highlights in agricultural productivity and accounts for 60% of national grain production. For him, it is essential that there is global mobilization among nations to bring knowledge, technology and innovation to the poorest countries in the tropical fringe. “Where there is hunger and inequality, there is no peace. Agriculture is the basis of food security and world peace”, highlighted the former minister, remembering that the problems faced in some countries impact global conflicts. “Therefore, I reinforce that efforts to promote agricultural development in the Americas, Asia and Africa are everyone's problem and must involve joint actions and the search for resources from global development agencies. I have a dream, but I'm not the only one, let's dream together?” asked Paolinelli.
Holding the International Tropical Agriculture Week is the first step in this direction, as explained by the president of Embrapa, Celso Moretti. “At this event, we will have more than 20 experts from various countries to share expertise in the area of tropical agriculture”, he recalled.
The director general of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Manuel Otero, suggested institutionalizing the International Tropical Agriculture Week, as a way of not only increasing Brazil's scientific and technological gains achieved through this modality, but also extending to other countries and offered IICA to get involved in this objective. “With its potential, the International Tropical Agriculture Week can and should become a great movement radiating the phenomenal saga that Brazil has experienced in the last 50 years, mainly for our region and especially for the countries on the tropical fringe of America”, he proposed.
“We have a golden opportunity to take Brazil’s knowledge and innovations to countries in America that need inputs to guarantee food security for their populations, increase productivity, stop migration to cities and start a virtuous cycle that improves income. of producers and position rural territories as areas of progress and opportunity”, added Otero.
The IICA director also drew attention to the fact that the event will gather input for the United Nations Food Systems Summit, scheduled for September and that, weeks before, the IICA Inter-American Board, which brings together agriculture ministers from the region, will have a great opportunity to develop a convergent agenda with this objective.
The Agribusiness Coordinator at Fundação Getúlio Vargas and former Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Roberto Rodrigues, endorsed the initiative by Embrapa and IICA to reinforce the concrete possibility of agriculture feeding the world. “There is an effort to be disseminated to countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia in the tropical region”, he commented.
According to the president of Embrapa, the impressive evolution of Brazilian agriculture over the last five decades has led to unprecedented growth in the world. He cited three significant examples that prove this scenario. Coffee farming has grown four times in the last 25 years; milk production jumped from 5 billion to 35 billion liters, i.e. a seven-fold increase; and chicken was increased 65 times.
Rodrigues added that, from the 1990s to today, the area planted with grains in Basil has grown by 80% and grain production by 370%, more than five times the planted area. “The technology generated productivity gains per hectare. Today we have 68 million hectares with grains, we produce two and even three harvests per year. If we had the same productivity today as we did 30 years ago, it would take 110 million hectares to produce the crop we harvested in 2020/2021, therefore, Brazilian tropical agriculture is sustainable by definition,” he said.
Otero, who was IICA's representative in Brazil twice, said that he was an eyewitness to the country's agricultural transformation and that today, other countries dream of having a system and structure dedicated to agricultural research like Embrapa's. “In the 1980s, I saw a vulnerable Brazil, with a reduced supply of export products, but 25, 30 years later, when I returned, I found another country”, he pointed out.
Moretti reinforced that behind these numbers is science. Public and private research and teaching institutions, in partnership with rural extension, managed to develop a robust innovation system. There are three pillars responsible for this evolution: the transformation of acidic soils into fertile ones; the tropicalization of plants and animals; and the creation of a sustainable production platform. “Thanks to these integrated efforts, we were able to reduce the price of the basic food basket by 50%”, added Moretti.
For the president of Embrapa, the agricultural revolution in Brazil is currently experiencing a new wave, that of sustainability. The Brazilian Forest Code, Low Carbon Agriculture, integrated production systems and techniques such as direct planting have guaranteed and increased the development of tropical agriculture on a sustainable basis. “The Crop-Livestock-Forest Integration systems, which currently occupy an area of more than 17 million hectares in the country, increase productivity, at the same time as they incorporate carbon and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs)”, explained.
“By 2050, Brazilian production should exceed 500 million tons of grains and with the technology provided by agricultural research we do not need to advance through areas of forests and native forests. Today we have an area of degraded pastures in the country of around 60 million hectares, which is being incorporated into production”, said Moretti.
Finally, he highlighted that Embrapa unconditionally supports Alysson Paolinelli's candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize, remembering that the former minister's trajectory is intertwined with that of Brazilian agriculture itself. The director general of IICA added, emphasizing that “the transformation of Brazilian agriculture is a reflection of the visionary attitude of the protagonists of this extraordinary saga, among whom Paolinelli stands out. He has always defended the need to develop agriculture in the tropics using scientific knowledge and the development of institutions with Embrapa as a banner”, he said.
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