Epamig holds the 18th Coffee Technological Meeting in São Sebastião Paraíso

The Agricultural Research Company of Minas Gerais (Epamig) will hold, next Thursday (23), the 18th Coffee Technological Meeting. The event will take place at the Company's Experimental Field in São Sebastião do Paraíso, and will start at 8 am. The program is free, and will feature two lectures and five field stations.

At the opening of the event, researcher Cesar Botelho will present the theme “Epamig: 50 years of research in coffee farming”. During the lecture, participants will be able to learn more about the contributions of research carried out by the company, which turns 50 in August, to the consolidation of Minas Gerais as the largest coffee producing state in Brazil. 

“We made an overview of technologies for coffee growing since the creation of the Integrated Agricultural Research Program of the State of Minas Gerais (Pipaemg), at the beginning of the 1970s, when few institutions carried out research on coffee and there was an urgency for actions to manage coffee and combating coffee rust”, points out the researcher.

Epamig 50 years

Over these 50 years, Epamig has conducted and participated in several research projects for genetic improvement, development of new cultivars, pest and disease control, fertility and plant nutrition. 

“It's something that's rarely mentioned, but Epamig played a very important role in the dissemination of traditional cultivars, such as Catuaís, developed by the Campinas Agronomic Institute (IAC). We revisit some of these stories and pay homage to some of our colleagues and former colleagues from Epamig, who contributed to the development of so many of these technologies”, he details.

The history of the São Sebastião do Paraíso Experimental Field, which has always been linked to coffee growing, and which today houses Epamig's winter cultivation vineyards, will also be highlighted in the presentation. The work on genetic improvement has resulted in coffee cultivars that have achieved great results in quality and productivity, as is the case with MGS Paraíso 2.

Field Dynamics

In the field, César Botelho will lead the “Cultivares para o Sul e Sudoeste de Minas Gerais” station, in which he will present the main results of the project, developed in partnership with Cooxupé, to validate coffee cultivars with the best performance for the region.

Epamig researcher, Denis Nadeleti, and Fapemig/Epamig postdoctoral fellow, Maísa Mancini, will bring the topic “Preparation of batches for the coffee quality competition”. The other stations will address soil quality and pest control. The program also includes the lecture “Factors of high productivity in coffee farming”, which will be presented by consultant Eder Carvalho Sabdy.

Registration can be done on site, on the day of the event. More information (35) 3531-1496, cesp@epamig.br.