CNA and Embrapa discuss strategies for coping with drought in soybean crops

CNA and Embrapa Soja discussed, on Friday (05/08), strategies for combating drought in the crop and the Low Carbon Soy Program.

Researcher José Salvador Foloni presented the impacts of water stress on soybean crops and Embrapa's work proposals to improve the crop's resilience in the face of adverse climatic factors.

According to him, the impact of the drought on the 2021/2022 harvest on soybeans was calculated at R$72 billion, with severe losses mainly in Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná.

According to the general manager of Embrapa Soja, Alexandre Lima Nepomuceno, advances in genetic editing methodology (CRISPR), which is being used in Brazil to insert relevant agronomic characteristics, in this case drought tolerance, without giving up productivity.

“In this case, soy will not be considered a GMO, as it does not contain gene sequences from other species and does not need to go through the expensive process of deregulation to access markets.”

CNA's technical director, Bruno Lucchi, cited success stories of the CNA/Senar System, such as the Forrageiras para o Semiarid program, which in addition to increasing productivity, guaranteed the resilience and productive capacity of forage crops in the Brazilian semi-arid even in periods of drought.

“The producer is demanding new technologies and applied research needs to approach the private sector to support the problem. To this end, we will deepen the discussions, with the support of the Federations, to understand the best ways of sharing efforts in favor of new technologies in the main producing regions”, he stated.

During the meeting, the deputy head of Technology Transfer at Embrapa Soja, Carina Gomes Rufino, spoke about updates to the Low Carbon Soy Program.

The initiative aims to create measurable criteria for the management techniques used by the producer in soybean production, focusing on actions to mitigate Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. According to Embrapa, the proposal is to create a Brazilian methodology based on internationally validated scientific protocols.

The president of the CNA National Cereals, Fibers and Oilseeds Commission, Ricardo Arioli, said that quantifying and promoting the sustainability of Brazilian soybeans for the international market is a fundamental topic.

“In addition to thinking about certification, we need to promote the principles of continuous improvement of rural properties. We have to choose the path of leadership for the issue and the strength and capillarity of the CNA/Senar System will be fundamental in this process”.

The CNA intends to align the topic with the Agriculture Federations and rural unions, in addition to calling a meeting of the National Commission to validate and contribute from members in relation to the data presented by Embrapa.