Paraná hosts the first edition of the Regional Agricultural Innovation Forum

The 1st Regional Agricultural Innovation Forum promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) was held this Tuesday morning (11), in Carambeí (PR). This was the first of 40 regional forums that will aim to propose agendas in order to favor the practice of innovation in the field and the image of Brazil as an aggregator of production. These agendas will be gathered and discussed in a forum that will take place in Brasília in the first half of 2020.

Panels and debates

With a program that covered the entire morning, the event was divided into three panels. The first panel, mediated by the Secretary of Innovation, Rural Development and Irrigation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Fernando Silveira Camargo, discussed “Guidelines to promote the regional innovation environment”. The agricultural advisor at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Bert Rikken, opened the panel and presented the Dutch agribusiness innovation ecosystem.

The Innovation Manager of the Fiep System (Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná), Filipe Cassapo, spoke about the innovation ecosystems created by the entity and the challenges of, with the help of technology, combining productivity and responsibility. “That is why it is so important that we increasingly encourage an environment of technological innovation, encouraging startups, investing in research and big data, studies of the future”, commented Cassapo.

Julio Cezar Agostini took the Forum stage representing Sebrae-PR (Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service). The Director of Operations presented the innovation scenario in the city of Ponta Grossa, which has more than 340 “innovative agents”, including institutions, innovative companies and startups. Agostini also showed the innovation ecosystem planning work that has been carried out by the institution to foster and encourage innovative environments in the Campos Gerais region, including the cities of Ponta Grossa, Carambeí, Palmeira and Castro.

The dean of Business and Community Relations at the Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR), Douglas Renaux, who closed the first panel, highlighted universities as environments that promote innovation. For him, “Brazil needs to learn to go through the 'valley of death', a stage in the process of technological maturity in which the research sector is unable to connect to the productive sector”.  

The Forum's second panel, entitled “Regional innovation demands for agriculture”, was also mediated by Filipe Cassapo. Nelson Costa, innovation superintendent of the Ocepar System (Organization of Cooperatives of Paraná), presented the Innovation Program created by the entity in order to encourage innovative projects within the cooperatives themselves. Created in the first half of 2018, the program already has effective solutions in the areas of credit, health and agribusiness.

The superintendent of Frísia Cooperativa Agroindustrial, Emerson Moura, highlighted the main demands of Brazilian rural producers, such as access to information and greater connectivity in the field, integrated property management and access to a line of credit aimed exclusively at innovation, highlighting the climate change scenario. “In this context of restricted natural resources, increasing productivity without expanding the production area will be an increasingly frequent demand and, for this, we need investment and incentives”, he highlighted. Moura also highlighted the importance of cooperatives in relation to the practical implementation of these innovations, as they reduce risks for the producer while at the same time having credibility to test new tools.

The deputy head of Research at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Sergio Gaiad, focused on the obstacles faced by the sector, including the difficulty in approaching the productive sector and financing in this field. The general director of UTFPR's Pato Branco campus, Idemir Citadin, highlighted the institution's innovation tools and how they have met the demands of agribusiness in the southwest of the state.

The third and final panel of the event, mediated by the general coordination coordinator for innovation at MAPA's Secretariat of Innovation, Rural Development and Irrigation, Benedito João Gai Neto, debated the "Challenges and opportunities to develop and implement innovations in regional agriculture". Bosch's innovation leader in Curitiba, Daniel Lange, presented the transformation scenario of the multinational, which decided to develop innovation strategies through the creation of multifunctional teams. “We decided to focus on the business model, so that we can add benefits to local demand. An example of this is the development of solutions focused on agribusiness mobility here in Paraná,” he explained.

In “4G Tim no Campo – Connectivity Technology”, Leandro Guerra presented the current panorama of connectivity in rural areas and highlighted the economic difficulties for its expansion. Tim's International Relations director also presented ConectarAGRO, an initiative supported by several companies that seeks to democratize internet access in the country's agricultural regions.

The CEO of Brazilian Trade, Rafael Ortolan, spoke about technological communication innovation for agriculture and the tools developed by the company that can enhance results in agribusiness. “Digital farms cost less and sell more,” he commented. The leader for Development and Implementation of Airbus Intelligence Solutions, Esther Querat, closed the event program by talking about increasing productivity in agriculture with information from images collected on satellites and other precision agriculture technologies. “By providing local data, we were able to make Brazilian agribusiness more strategic and competitive,” she reiterated.