Focusing on the development of green biotechnologies for tropical agriculture and the retention of knowledge on Brazilian soil, a company with 100% national capital will invest in the creation of a biotechnology research center in the Brazilian Cerrado. The amount, which should reach R$190 million, will be aimed at new, entirely national technologies in precision agriculture.
According to Fernando Prezzotto, founder and CEO of Semper AgTech, the sector is thriving, but the strategic assets currently used are not Brazilian.
“Our agriculture still depends on raw materials from countries such as India, Russia and China to ensure the supply of fertilizers and pesticides for the field. At the other end of the chain, technologies are dominated and developed exclusively by globally consolidated multinationals. What we want to do is for these strategic biotech assets to become the property of Brazilians,” he says.
To achieve these goals, investments total R$190 million. Part of this amount – around R$50 million – will be allocated to structuring a biotechnology reference center in Brasília (DF). The technology park will be focused on biotechnology and will work in connection with the company's current research centers. With almost three thousand square meters of built area and complete laboratory structure, the new space will also have an experimental area of greenhouses, to carry out small-scale tests, and around 15 irrigated hectares of field, to carry out Planned Releases in the Environment (LPMAs).
The company's Director of Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I), Hugo Molinari, reports that the new complex will operate in two aspects. “The first is the development of in-house research, with our own structure of laboratories, fields and researchers. The second is via Open Innovation (open innovation), through partnerships with public or private, national or international institutions”, he explains. Among the ongoing partnerships, Embrapa and the North American university Wisconsin-Madison stand out.
Molinari also highlights the expansion of the team with dedication in the area of biotechnology. “Only in biotechnology can we reach a hundred people. We want qualified researchers and recent graduates to join our team. Our project includes keeping these professionals in Brazil and preventing the ‘evasion of knowledge’ abroad. We are very confident”, he ponders.
Designed to be an intelligence and innovation arm of the seeding giant, WIN (World Innovation). will work on several fronts, applying New Breeding Technologies (NBTs). The products being researched and developed follow three main lines: crop protection, tolerance to abiotic stresses (water and temperature) and efficiency in the use of nutrients, with the main focus on nitrogen.
Among the highlights is the development of a line of biodirected pesticides, capable of controlling weeds, pests and diseases that steal crop productivity. These innovative products will present numerous advantages over conventional agrochemicals currently used. In biodirected pesticides, the gene sequence is designed to act only on the target organism (safe by design), being harmless to humans and other living beings. It is protection for the user of the biodirected pesticide and also for the consumer, who can be sure of eating food without chemical residues.
The teams are also dedicated to other important fronts, such as the search for corn hybrids desired by the market, genomic editing of plants and microorganisms via CRISPR/Cas, generation of genetically modified (GM) plants based on interfering RNA (RNAi), creation of proprietary transgenic events with new proteins to control insect pests and diseases, new inoculants targeted to promote growth, nutrient use efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stresses and new tools to further accelerate the company's genetic improvement program (Speed breeding). “We are an agribusiness solutions company and these solutions can come from the combination of several technologies”, says Molinari.
Molinari believes that 2023 and 2024 will be decisive years. “We started 2023 in full swing, with the creation of the new research center and the consolidation of a key multidisciplinary team. We want to create a center that is a reference in biotechnology, which is why we are hiring talented professionals so that WIN can offer, in the medium term, new technologies that will improve the lives of Brazilian farmers”, he summarizes.
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