British mission seeks, at Embrapa, technological solutions for sustainable agriculture

Embrapa Milho e Sorgo received, on June 26th, in Sete Lagoas (MG), a visit from the Director of Science and Innovation for Latin America, Rossa Commane, a diplomat linked to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Communities and Development (FCDO)), from the UK government, and Mark Jarman, founding partner of British consultancy firm AgriTierra.

The organization of the visit was carried out by the coordinator of the Embrapa office in Europe (Labex-Europa), Vinícius Pereira Guimarães. “We have more than three years of negotiations with the FCDO, and with the recent arrival of Director Commane in Brazil, our objective was present lines of research and technologies developed by Embrapa, especially those aimed at the areas of precision agriculture, the Crop-Livestock-Forest Integration System (ILPF) and the promotion of greater sustainability for Brazilian agriculture”, said Guimarães. For him, there is a clear interest from the British government in financing actions between Embrapa and the United Kingdom, and there is nothing better than showing potential lines of collaboration in practice.

The acting deputy head of Research & Development (R&D), Cynthia Damasceno, and the deputy head of Technology Transfer (TT), Myriam Nobre, presented the Unit's strategic agenda with a focus on structuring platforms for Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I), aligned with Embrapa's Master Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals, which seek to deliver sustainable technological solutions for agriculture.

"We focus on topics such as Bioeconomy and Decarbonization of Agriculture as central points in the discussion, as the British Government continually explores opportunities and sectors in Latin America for investment in science and technology, as a mechanism for sustainable development and returns for society globally. ", commented Myriam Nobre.

 “In addition, we present concrete cases of innovation at the Unit regarding technological solutions developed with partner companies and new business models, in addition to technologies under development and with great potential for reducing risks in agriculture”, pointed out the head of TT.

The program included visits to the experimental fields, in the morning, to learn about the Antecipe System, presented by researchers Décio Karan and Emerson Borghi. The Technological Reference and Research Unit at ILPF was presented by researchers Márcia Silveira, Miguel Gontijo and Ramon Alvarenga. In the afternoon, the delegation went to the laboratories of the Applied Biology Center and were received by Newton Castilho and Andrea Carneiro, to learn about the lines of research for the development of biological inputs and other topics related to biotechnology.

Rossa Commane commented that, even though he is not a specialist in the agricultural area, he was very impressed with what he saw, and the expectation is that within his responsibility, as director of Latin America, at the British Ministry of Economy, he will find ways to finance some Embrapa action with British institutions. “Finding resources is key in this rapprochement process, but for me, clearly, agriculture is the main point of possibility for cooperation between the United Kingdom and Brazil”, highlighted Commane.

Mark Jarman, from AgriTierra, who currently resides in Colombia, explained that his company is interested in transforming science and knowledge into business. “My role is to make it easier for English institutions to develop partnerships in the Colombian environment, and also to start building this bridge with institutions in Brazil,” said Jarman.

He mentioned that there are many coincidences between the production systems of Colombia and those of Brazil. “There is a very large interaction between production systems and the environment that can be explored in a very good way between Brazil and Colombia”, commented Jarman.

“As there are many opportunities for agricultural innovation happening in England, Colombia and Brazil, I believe there must be great opportunities for collaboration between the countries. There is room for forming partnerships, providing services and delivering solutions for agriculture around the world”, added the director.

He considers that there is a great similarity of actions in England, Colombia and Brazil. “I think of the world as a large ecosystem that could benefit from a partnership between these countries. I feel very happy to be in this position today and to be able to make this link between countries, to connect science and technology with agriculture for sustainable development”, said Mark.