SindiTabaco and the IAC-Quepia program sign a one-year partnership

The IAC Program for Quality in Personal Protective Equipment in Agriculture (IAC-Quepia) and SindiTabaco (Interstate Tobacco Industry Union) have signed a technical cooperation agreement. Under the agreement, Quepia researchers will provide expert consultancy for approximately one year to assess the rural workplace safety scenario involving the use of agricultural PPE (agricultural protective clothing) in tobacco fields.

Funded by private resources, the IAC-Quepia program unites the national PPE industry with the Center for Engineering and Automation (CEA) of the Agronomic Institute (IAC), an agency of the São Paulo State Department of Agriculture and Supply in Jundiaí, São Paulo. Created 18 years ago, 'Quepia' was responsible for reducing the quality failure rate of agricultural PPE in the country, which was around 80% in 2010, to the current 20%.

According to the program's coordinator, scientific researcher Hamilton Ramos, the partnership with SindiTabaco includes conducting in-depth technical analyses of the PPE models currently used by pesticide applicators in tobacco fields. "We also plan to develop specific PPE for use in tobacco cultivation, depending on the results of further studies," says Ramos.

According to information from SindiTabaco, an organization founded nearly 80 years ago, Brazil is currently the world's second-largest tobacco producer. The crop is present in 509 municipalities in the southern region of Brazil, with approximately 133 producers and 626 people. The tobacco processing industries, according to the union, generate around 40 direct jobs.