Embrapa and USDA sign agreement for fertilizer research and efficiency

During the 50th anniversary ceremony, Embrapa, the University of Florida and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) signed a cooperation agreement for the implementation of the Research and Efficiency for Fertilizer Production project. The resource is in the order of 4 million dollars, 1 million for each research project to be carried out over 3 years.

Among the research topics, the use of precision agriculture, big data and artificial intelligence to obtain a more efficient distribution of nutrients applied to crops and soil management; development and evaluation of new biological products to improve the physical functions of soils; development and evaluation of new fertilizer formulations and sources to replace or reduce dependence on traditional NPK sources, such as higher efficiency fertilizers and organominerals, and biostimulants for root growth; determining ways to better use existing nutrient sources, such as legume cover crops, used as alternatives to fertilizers, and developing new crop varieties that use soil nutrients more efficiently.

The document was signed by the administrator of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Simon Liu, by the Undersecretary of Research, Education and Economics (USDA), Chavonda Jacobs-Young, by the vice president of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Florida, J. Scott Angle, and the president of Embrapa, Celso Moretti.

“I join my USDA colleagues in congratulating Embrapa’s Golden Anniversary, 50 years of service to the people of Brazil! This is a great achievement: they are impressive records of developing food, achieving economic impacts and using new ways to invest in best practices with excellence in agricultural research and development”, said US Undersecretary Chavonda Jacobs. “The celebration of this anniversary is an opportunity to formalize a valuable and productive partnership between USDA and Embrapa.”

According to the president of Embrapa, Celso Moretti, cooperations like the one we have now signed are steps towards action fronts towards optimizing the use of fertilizers and investing in new technologies. "We need to make consistent progress in this area so that it is possible to reduce the need for imports by up to 25%", he comments, remembering that Brazil imports 85% of the fertilizers it consumes in agriculture, mainly in the soybean, corn and sugarcane production chains. sugar. The country is the fourth largest consumer in the world, behind only the United States, India and China.

"We have science as the main tool to reverse the situation and move in another, more sustainable and productive direction. The development of technologies and innovation will allow dependence on imports to decrease. Partnerships and exchange of knowledge and experience with excellent researchers are the way ", he concludes.

Strategic articulation

Negotiations leading to the agreement between Embrapa, USDA and the Institute of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the University of Florida (UF/IFAS) began in April 2022, with the formation of a working group to address an international research collaboration to improve the efficient use of fertilizers and nutrients in agricultural production systems. The main objective of the initiative was to reduce dependence on fertilizers, increase sustainable nutrient management, strengthen global food security and facilitate smart agriculture to combat global warming.

The coordination of the negotiations was carried out by the coordinator of Labex USA, Alexandre Varella, with the support of the Superintendency of International Relations (SRI), the Research, Development and Innovation Cooperation Management (PDI) and the International Cooperation Supervision. From then on, a committee was formed with representatives of the institutions, composed of the Labex coordinator, the Agriculture Counselor at the US Embassy in Brasília, Michael Conlon; Director Development Assistance, USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service, Ney Luke; Program Manager, USDA, Khalil Hamid; the Agriculture specialist, USDA, US Embassy in Brasília, Marcela Formiga; University of Florida-US-IFAS Assistant Benita Bannis; the leader of the National Land and Air Program, ARS-USDA, Peter Vadas; ARS-USDA International Affairs Specialist Ryan Moore; and the Vice-Rector of Research, UF-IFAS, Robert Gilbert.

“To define Embrapa's priorities in this collaboration topic and for the development of projects, we had the participation of managers and researchers from the Automation, Precision Agriculture and Digital Portfolios; Biological Inputs; Nutrients for Agriculture and leading researchers on the subject of agricultural systems”, says the coordinator of Labex USA, Alexandre Varella.

He recalls that, during this period, periodic video conferences were held, in addition to two virtual technical meetings and a hybrid one at the University of Florida, with all researchers and organizers, for the development of innovative research projects in fertilizer technology and nutrient use. “These projects aim to improve fertilizer efficiency and global food security and facilitate smart agriculture to combat global warming,” he explains.

According to Varella, there are currently four research proposals, involving 63 researchers and organizers from all institutions. “The research proposals are finalized and have been developed into topics,” she explains. They are: precision management, big data and artificial intelligence (existing and emerging technologies that allow farmers to obtain a more efficient distribution of the nutrients they apply to crops and soil management, reducing the quantities of fertilizers for production and reducing loss for the environment); Biologicals, soil biology, soil health (developing and evaluating new biologicals to be applied to fields and determining how to improve the physical and biological functions of soil, to increase the availability of soil nutrients to crops and reduce need for chemical fertilizers); new products, including fertilizers and biostimulants (development and evaluation of new formulations and sources of fertilizers to replace or decrease dependence on traditional sources of NPK and biostimulants for root growth, such as urease and nitrification inhibitors, to increase efficiency in the use of fertilizers, reduce the need for fertilizers and reduce losses to the environment); more efficient use of existing nutrient sources (determining ways to better use existing nutrient sources, such as legume cover crops used as alternatives to fertilizers, and developing new crop varieties that use soil nutrients more efficiency).

Regarding financing, Varella says that the negotiation of resources for the projects is for the full contribution by the American government. Embrapa, UF/IFAS and ARS-USDA will provide financial participation in kind. “The amount that will be made available for activities under Embrapa’s responsibility varies for each project, but it will not be less than 1/3 of the total value of the resources”, she states. 

“The support and interest of the American government and scientific institutions has been significant”, he says, highlighting that this can be seen in the enthusiasm in the meetings and meetings held between the parties and in the confirmations of presence of government authorities and partner institutions in this collaboration on Embrapa's anniversary.