Cotton farming in Minas Gerais is expected to grow by more than 50% in 2019

Minas Gerais cotton farmers already have a good reason to celebrate. This year's production should be 67,3% higher than last harvest's figures. This should place Minas Gerais in third place in the ranking of the largest Brazilian cotton producers. The euphoria of the producers could be noticed during the field day that the Minas Gerais Association of Cotton Producers (AMIPA) promoted on the 4th of July, on the entity's experimental farm, located in Santana de Patos, district of Patos de Minas (MG ). The event attracted almost 600 people.

“Embrapa and AMIPA are strengthening their partnerships to develop various technologies for cotton production in the State of Minas Gerais, mainly in the search for biological control of the boll weevil. Managing this pest is, without a doubt, our biggest challenge and the advances we achieve in this objective will be an immense contribution to sustainable cotton production. We are very happy with the reception that our team is receiving from AMIPA and the cotton farmers in Minas Gerais”, declared Liv Soares, Interim General Manager of Embrapa Algodão, who was present at the event. 

The organizers of the field day emphasized the increase in productivity and expanded the discussion on the market for this agribusiness. The participation of semi-arid family farming in the North of Minas emerges as a new strategy for the sector. 

During the field day, the commercial brand Trichogramma Amipa was presented to the public, which is a biological control agent developed by the Biological Products Factory (Biofábrica). The product has been tested and improved over the last few years on member properties with great success and efficiency in controlling pests of the lepidoptera order in cotton, soybean, corn, peas, beans and tomato crops.

“It is gratifying to see people here from São Paulo, Bahia, Goiás. Also researchers from Embrapa from Campina Grande and Sete Lagoas. The aim is this, to add, the more people we have here, the more knowledge, the more exchange of information”, observed the president of AMIPA, Daniel Bruxel.

Minas should have this harvest an increase of 67,3% and reach 73,2 thousand tons of cotton lint harvested, compared to 43,7 thousand tons in the previous harvest, which was 59,2% higher in relation to the 2016/17 season that yielded 27 thousand tons, according to data from AMIPA itself. 

The volume of cultivated area jumped from 25,23 thousand/ha in 2017/18 to the current 42,8 thousand/ha, 69,6% more. Mining productivity, at 285 arrobas per hectare, is also above the national average. “The numbers from this harvest make Minas reach third place among the largest cotton producing states in Brazil, behind only Mato Grosso and Bahia”, highlighted the association's executive director, Lício Pena.

According to Pena, of the 73,2 thousand tons of cotton lint estimated for the 2018/2019 harvest, around 20 thousand tons are contracted with trading companies and another 52 thousand tons will be destined for the domestic market. Minas Gerais production is already exported to 34 countries. 

Nelci Caixeta, from Technical Cooperation Asia/Africa and Oceania, a body of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlighted the role that the Catuti Cotton Technology Diffusion Center, located in the North of Minas Gerais, should play. “This initiative will benefit the local cotton sector and will allow sharing development experiences in this area with 16 African countries, such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Togo, Senegal, Sudan and Zimbabwe,” he said.

He also recalled that cotton farmers in the North of Minas have already been able to collaborate technically with a hundred African technicians in recent years. “This center will have a built area of ​​1.204 m², which will house the cotton processing plant, offices, meeting and training rooms, sheds for agricultural machinery and a mechanical workshop. The works are expected to be completed in April 2020, with financing guaranteed by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Caixeta.

Field Day

Amipa Field Day 2019 is part of a project developed by the entity, called “Retomada do Algodão”, which since 2014 has been working strategically to promote cotton farming in all cotton regions in a way focused on agronomic and economic benefits, mainly integrated into the system of crop rotation. 
The event is consolidated as one of the largest of its kind in Minas Gerais, driven by the growing production of cotton in the state, government support and increased demand for the commodity both in the domestic market and in exports, this too, combined with the emergence of new technologies and quality of the fiber produced that improves every year. 
 
This year's event was in partnership with the government of Minas Gerais through the State Secretariat for Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Proalminas and the Cotton Production Development Fund of the State of Minas Gerais (Algominas Fund). It also had institutional support from the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (Abrapa), the Association of Soy Producers (Aprosoja-MG) and the Brazilian Cotton Institute (IBA). Among the exhibiting companies were Basf, Bayer, CiaSeeds, FMC, Ihara, Instituto Matogrossense do Algodão (IMAmt), J&H, Laboratório Farroupilha/Lallemand, Nufarm, Syngenta and TMG. Autus, Ditrasa, Maqnelson/John Deere, Moraes, Stara and Uniparts.