Embrapa and Agricampanha carry out technical review of the Integra Pampa project

Embrapa Pecuária Sul and the Association of Farmers of the Campanha Region (Agricampanha) today carried out the first technical tour of the activities of the Integra Pampa project, in Embrapa's experimental fields in Bagé (RS). The event aimed to show some of the results of the first year of Integra Pampa, an initiative by the two institutions that aims to evaluate the best arrangements for crop-livestock-forest integration systems (ILPF) in the Pampa biome, based on different designs involving production of grain, meat and wood.

The president of Agricampanha, Gesiel Porciúncula, highlighted the importance of the partnership with Embrapa as it brings rural producers closer to the research institution. “The Campaign Region is delicate for agriculture due to the rainfall and soil characteristics and the partnership aims precisely to seek answers so that the farmer can have better results in the field”. 

For the Deputy Head of Technology Transfer at Embrapa Pecuária Sul, Gustavo Martins da Silva, one of the great merits of the project is to address production systems as a whole. “We are working with different activities that can make up a production system on the property, always keeping agricultural sustainability in mind.”

The project coordinator, researcher at Embrapa Pecuária Sul Naylor Perez, presented in general terms the different research that is being developed within the scope of the project. According to him, Integra Pampa ranges from the evaluation and development of soybean cultivars adapted to the region and to integrated systems, integrated livestock-crop and livestock-crop-forest systems, use of fertilizer, precision agriculture, use of bio-inputs, among other aspects. “Our objective is to generate solid information that can be used by producers, both in relation to production systems and in the use of new technologies already developed or under development”.

Embrapa Clima Temperado researcher and specialist in genetic improvement of soybeans, Ana Cláudia Barneche de Oliveira, presented some experiments that are being carried out in this first year of work. Ana highlighted that different cultivars already available on the market are being tested on several plots, in addition to strains that will be used in the development of a variety adapted for the Campanha region. 

The use of two bio-inputs in crops and the control of unwanted plants are also being tested. “Since I started visiting the region, I have received demand from producers for soybean cultivars that are more resistant to drought. Our objective is to deliver a cultivar that meets this demand, always with the great challenge of being highly productive”, he highlighted.