Embrapa participates in international debate on the challenge of innovation and sustainability in agribusiness

Embrapa was represented by the Executive Directorate of Innovation and Technology (DE-IT) at an international event that brought together representatives from the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA) and the European Risk Forum (ERF) to discuss the challenge of innovation and sustainability in agribusiness. The webinar was promoted by the Brazilian Center for International Relations (Cebri), in partnership with Basf this Tuesday, 8/12.

At the opening, the representative of the Agro do Cebri nucleus, Luiz Fernando Furlan, recalled the strength of Brazilian agribusiness, highlighting that even during the pandemic the sector recorded a surplus in the trade balance. On the other hand, Furlan focused on the resurgence of protectionism in a scenario in which countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia and China invest in food security and non-dependence on imports, as well as in the creation of regulatory stocks to avoid shortages. According to him, the context makes factors such as traceability and animal welfare relevant.

“We have two big challenges: the new cycle of innovations and the issue of sustainability which, in Brazil, must go even more hand in hand”, said debate mediator Marcos Jank (Cebri and Insper) - also in a reference to protectionist movements in international markets . Jank also highlighted the country's historical dominance in tropical technologies, citing the revolution in the production process with the introduction of two annual harvests, in addition to direct planting, Integration of Crop, Livestock and Forestry (ILPF) and low carbon agriculture, referring to the from Embrapa. Already director of Innovation and Technology at Embrapa, Adriana Regina Martin, reinforced the institution's commitment to remaining a leader in the development of competitive models of national agriculture through investment in partnerships with the private sector and proximity to startups. Digital agriculture and traceability, in addition to investment in bioeconomy, food and nutritional security and sustainable territorial development are RD&I priorities that are included in the company's Strategic Development Plan, presented by the manager as adhering to the UN Sustainable Development Goals agenda, the SDGs.

Martin highlights the importance of Embrapa being present in international forums, where it can present the advances that the company has generated in research and innovation and efforts to reconcile the three pillars of sustainability, social, economic and environmental.

Innovation and Precaution 

European Risk Forum (ERF) member, Paul Leonard, also made reference to the importance of meeting the SDGs. Invited to speak about the importance of improving and modernizing regulation, he took the theme of the principles of innovation and precaution to the sustainability debate. The biologist argued that the concepts are not exclusive, but complementary, when it comes to innovative, technological and sustainable aspects. 

Leonard agrees that the regulatory model adopted in Brazil by CTNBio, in which the release of transgenics is analyzed case by case, is the most appropriate in the context of stimulating innovation, “the issue is not the technology, but its application”. However, he acknowledged that there are still challenges with regard to the adoption of such an understanding by the European Union, despite efforts to the contrary maintained by organizations in the productive sector, in particular, as he pointed out. 

For CNA's Superintendent of International Relations, Lígia Dutra, “the producer impacts, is not just impacted by innovations”. The lawyer argued that in the Brazilian context it is necessary to observe both the segment that already adopts and also small and medium-sized producers who, in order to adopt new technologies, need to free themselves from national and international regulatory obligations - which sometimes overlap, negatively impacting the price end of the product with the consumer, said Dutra, defending standardized regulation by countries. 

40 years of Abipti

Also on Tuesday (8), the executive director of DE-IT, Adriana Regina Martin, participated in a virtual meeting in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Brazilian Association of Technological Research Institutions (Abipti), which brings together more than 140 institutions with the mission of representing and promoting the participation of RD&I entities in the establishment and execution of policies aimed at the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Adriana is a member of Abipti's board of directors, appointed in August this year as vice-president of the Central-West region. In 2020, the board concentrated its efforts in the North and South regions, with an agenda for the other regions scheduled for 2021. “I feel great satisfaction in being part of the board of two institutions as relevant as Embrapa and Abipti, which have strengthened the national innovation ecosystem ”, commented the manager.