Italy and Brazil expand cooperation agreement to develop a sustainable model for agriculture

Embrapa and the National Research Council (CNR) of Italy signed on Tuesday, March 14, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the aim of promoting and supporting scientific cooperation between the two institutions. The agreement foresees, for the next five years, joint research exchange projects in areas such as natural resources, biodiversity and climate change, biotechnology, nanotechnology, precision agriculture and information technologies, artificial intelligence applied to agriculture, animal and plant health, production systems and blockchain, agribusiness, food security and agricultural competitiveness.

The initiative is another step towards strengthening bilateral partnerships, such as the one currently developed between Embrapa Instrumentação, a unit in São Carlos-SP, and the Institute of Nanostructured Materials (ISMN), from CNR. The signing took place at Embrapa's headquarters in Brasília, with the presence of the Company's president, Celso Moretti, the president of the CNR, Maria Chiara Carrozza, and the Italian ambassador, Francesco Azzarello.

“It is a partnership of strategic importance for the development of research and agricultural innovation”, explained Moretti, referring to the increase in sustainable and competitive development, based on joint projects and the exchange of researchers.

For the president of the CNR, the potential for cooperation possibilities is great, involving ecological transition and biodiversity and protected areas. “These are essential aspects for the development of a new agriculture, which has circularity and connectivity with the concept of environmental sustainability,” she said. “The technologies developed in Italy and Brazil can be shared, and also involve other countries, such as those on the African continent and the Middle East,” she stated.

The Italian ambassador, Francesco Azzarello, highlighted the importance of the signature and the presence in Brazil of the president of the country's most important research institution, which reinforce the potential for bilateral cooperation. "Brazil is a recognized world leader in the agricultural sector and Embrapa represents the realization of this success”, he commented. He recalled the cooperation agreement signed in August last year, now expanded and with greater possibilities for exchange.

Present at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding were the minister advisor of the Embassy in Brazil, Fernando Pallini and the agricultural attaché Gianluca Cicchiello, and scientific attaché, Fabio Naro. The international advisor to the Presidency of Embrapa, Alexandre Amaral, the general manager of Research and Innovation Cooperation, Sabrina Castilho Duarte, and the supervisor of International Cooperation, Carlos Henrique Canesin, also participated.

Articulation

The signing of the agreement between Embrapa and CNR is one of the results of the visit by the executive director of Research and Innovation, Guy de Capdeville, the superintendent of Strategy, Bruno Brasil, and the coordinator of Labex Europe, Vinícius Guimarães, to four European countries between June 27th and July 8th, 2022, when cooperation actions with RD&I institutions in France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Turkey were initiated and expanded.

The CNR is the main body for promoting research in Italy, similar to the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, whose objective is to generate cutting-edge knowledge in the areas of chemical manufacturing and materials science and technology, focused on industrial and business areas.  

The cooperation between Embrapa Instrumentação and the Institute of Nanostructured Materials (ISMN), which belongs to the CNR, involves research into the application of nanotechnology for the development of technologies that reduce environmental impact. The partnership began in May 2021, with projects aimed at recovering ore tailings and synthetic ceramic nanomaterials. Furthermore, nanocomposites are being developed for agribusiness applications in the form of biodegradable, bactericidal membranes with visible ultraviolet protection. Embrapa's interest in formalizing a general cooperation agreement is to expand the scope to new research areas and units.