Embrapa opens its doors during National Science and Technology Week

With the theme "Bioeconomy: Diversity and Wealth for Sustainable Development", the National Science and Technology Week (SNCT) 2019. In Campina Grande, the official opening of the week takes place on the 21st, at 13:30 pm, at the headquarters of Embrapa Cotton. In this edition, several institutions, led by the Municipal Department of Science and Technology, will come together to publicize the importance of science for the state of Paraíba to the local population.

This year, during SNCT, Embrapa Algodão will open its doors to society, especially to students from the entire public and private education network in Paraíba, inviting them to discover the Knowledge Trail: Agriculture Driven by Science, circuit of guided tours through thematic stations to be held on October 21st and 24th, at the Unit's headquarters, in Campina Grande. On the 21st, the trail will be presented to parliamentarians, partners and guests in general.

With a field day format, the event will feature four stations. At the first station with the theme Embrapa, Agriculture Driven by Science, visitors will learn about Embrapa's contributions to Brazilian agriculture; in the second station, entitled Da Fibra ao Fio, where the clothes we wear come from, the work carried out in the Fiber Laboratory will be presented, from the analysis of the best varieties of cotton to the process of obtaining clothes by the textile industry; the third station will address the theme From Countryside to City, how agriculture and livestock are present in our daily lives and the fourth and final station will feature an ILPF Tunnel in Augmented Reality, an immersive experience, where visitors will be able to visualize the benefits of Integration Crop-Livestock-Forest to recover degraded soils and pastures, generating diversification and improving the producer’s income. 

Talk with Science 

 During the SNCT, on Tuesday (22), starting at 14:50 pm, Embrapa Algodão will also be in João Pessoa, with researcher Nair Arriel, who will participate in the round table “Sustainable Development in the Semi-Arid”, promoted by the Technology Center from the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), with the participation of the Tamanduá farm, Carnaúba farm and the National Semi-Arid Institute (Insa). Nair will present the Cotton in Agroecological Consortiums project, whose objective is to generate income for more than two thousand farming families with the improvement and expansion of agroecological cotton intercropped with other food crops in six states in the northeastern semi-arid region. The project is coordinated by the NGO Diaconia, in partnership with Embrapa Algodão and several institutions, with funding from Instituto C&A.

On Thursday (24), at 9 am, it will be researcher Everaldo Medeiros's turn to participate in Chat with Science, addressing the topic of Application of chemical-analytical knowledge for diagnosis and development of sustainable technologies in agriculture, at Senai Prata, in Campina Big. Among the highlights of the presentation will be research into the development of a bioinsecticide based on sisal juice, in partnership with UFPB; the stickiness (contamination) sensor in cotton lint, in partnership with the textile industry; the remote sharing of laboratory technologies and analyses; the development of artificial skin from bacterial cellulose; the development of high oleic cultivars, among others.