For three days, members of academia, market professionals and agribusiness leaders gathered at ESALQSHOW – Innovation Forum for Sustainable Agribusiness, with the aim of increasingly strengthening and strengthening the relationship between universities and other links in the segment. The event, held between October 9th and 11th, at Esalq/USP, in Piracicaba (SP), provided more than 24 hours of content, with the presence of 112 panelists, in addition to 65 exhibitors at the Innovation and Technology Fair.
For the president of the ESALQSHOW Advisory Board, Luiz Carlos Corrêa Carvalho, the event reaffirms the role of being a linking agent between spheres of the sector, in addition to becoming a permanent forum to debate the professionals of the future. “We are very happy with the results of this third ESALQSHOW, which is the agricultural show. We had the presence of all actors, from production chains, universities, the producing world and research institutes”, he states.
“The Government was effectively present every day participating in the debates, such as the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Supply of São Paulo, Gustavo Junqueira, the Secretary of Regional Development of the State of São Paulo, Marco Vinholi, in addition to the deputy secretary of Commerce and International Relations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Flávio Campestrin Bettarello, as well as several mayors. This is integration, which, in fact, is fundamental for us to move forward”, he adds.
The director of Esalq/USP, professor Durval Dourado Neto highlights that one of the focuses of ESALQSHOW is innovation and entrepreneurship as major objectives. “Our role is to improve and add value to everything we produce in the agricultural sector so that it ultimately improves people’s lives. One of the highlights of the event was the strengthening of our relationship with CAU – China Agriculture University. We were able to discuss cooperation relations in the area of agriculture, in addition to listening to the demands regarding the training of the professional of the future”, he highlights.
ESALQSHOW ended with a thematic panel on the professional of the future, which addressed the views of academia and the market. According to the director of Esalq/USP, the time is to make a diagnosis and a prognosis for the future. “What is our biggest concern? Define what we have to do now so that we don't miss the train of history in terms of training the professionals of the future. We diagnose that any professional will have to have notions of artificial intelligence, big data and internet of things. At the same time, we are users of technology and
Two major players are the USA and China, hence the importance of also having English in your training, which I believe is sufficient to meet both demands. But, for a small group, Mandarin would be a differentiator for the professional of the future.”
Dourado concluded by addressing the university's social responsibility in training people to improve the lives of ordinary Brazilian citizens. “We are investing so that a portion of these students have good training in innovation and entrepreneurship. It is obvious that 100% of students will not leave here innovating and entrepreneurship, but we will give 100% the opportunity so that a portion of them seek to improve the lives of people in Brazil”.
Moderated by agricultural engineer Marcos Fava Neves, professor at the Faculty of Economics, Administration and Accounting of Ribeirão Preto (FEA/USP), the final plenary session was attended by Aramis Moutinho Júnior, corporate superintendent of the OCESP System, Igor Belens, director of Human Resources and Corporate Communication at Compass Minerals, João Roberto Spotti Lopes, deputy director and president of the Institutional Relations Committee at Esalq/USP, Leonardo Porpino, technical manager at Alltech Crop Sciences Brasil, Luis Eduardo Aranha Camargo, professor at Esalq /USP, Marcelo Theoto Rocha, managing partner of Fábrica Ethica Brasil, Marcelo Marino dos Santos, advisor to Abisolo and general director of Omex, Marcelo Habe, director of Latam Marketing at Agrichem do Brasil, Raphael Cassillo, professor at Unesp Botucatu and Stella Cato, director of Research and Development at Stoller Brasil.
The future of agribusiness, with emphasis on the Brazil-China relationship, guided the themes discussed at the Agtech Valley Summit – Brazilian Agribusiness and its Paths. Public and private sector authorities outlined possible paths for the sector to explore until 2030.
Currently considered the third largest exporter of agricultural products in the world, behind only the United States and the European Union, Brazil is responsible for bringing food to the tables of families in 190 countries, with China holding the largest share with 35% of exports. Brazilians.
The International Relations advisor for the Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Confederation (CNA) Camila Tabet, which represents 1,7 million national producers, highlighted the importance of the sector in creating a more assertive policy to serve the world market, mainly Asia and the Middle East.
“Currently there are two incredible markets, which greatly import our products. In 2018 alone, both purchased 43,8% of what was produced by global agribusiness. Asia alone is responsible for 51% of our exports in the sector. This is a promising market that needs to be well explored by 2030. That's why we have to create more 'aggressive' policies towards these markets. China, for example, is a country that has its peculiarities. Entering this market is not easy. Even so, with all these obstacles, we already export a lot to them. Imagine when we create more objective actions? We will certainly be able to open other ‘doors’ and reach extraordinary heights.”
In the quest to serve the Chinese market, Camila also highlighted the importance of valuing small Brazilian producers more, so that they can have a greater participation in the export of national products. “From 97 to 2018, for example, more than 10 thousand companies were created, 40,8% of which are small businesses. Of this share, only 4,2% correspond to small and medium-sized producers focused on agribusiness and who, in fact, export some product. We need to reverse this scenario, which is negative, as most rural producers in Brazil are small and medium-sized. We have to give them this chance so they can also enter international trade.”
The trade war between the United States and China has a major impact on the prospects for the future of Brazilian agribusiness. The Program Director of the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA), José Eustáquio Ribeiro Vieira Filho, recalled that harmonization between the system is essential so that there is less uncertainty, thus increasing the level of investor confidence. “This dispute scenario is bad for the three economies, although Brazil has a positive variation because China needs to consume a lot and Brazil has a market with great potential to offer food”, he recalls.
The challenges and opportunities that agribusiness will face until 2030 was the central theme of this year's Agriculture Leadership Meeting. Under the theme “International Relations in Agriculture”, the debate was moderated by the president of the ESALQSHOW Advisory Board, Luiz Carlos Corrêa Carvalho and was attended by Flávio Campestrin Bettarello, deputy secretary of Commerce and International Relations of the Ministry of Agriculture; Ricardo Carciofi, member of the Group of Southern Productive Countries – GPS; Guo Pei, professor and researcher at China Agricultural University; Nicolas Rubio, chief of United States Department of Agriculture and Marcos Jank, holder of the Luiz de Queiroz Chair in Integrated Agricultural Systems (2019 Cycle).
For this year's edition, ESALQSHOW had an exclusive program for entrepreneurs and startups that develop innovations for agribusiness. The “Consulting Clinic for Startups and Entrepreneurs” offered individual consultancy sessions, with the aim of assisting in the development of activities in order to materialize ideas into solutions and format business models.
ESALQSHOW also featured a panel “Startups in Agribusiness – AcademyDay”, which dealt with the transformation of knowledge into innovation and the role of universities and research institutes. The “Startups in Agribusiness – StartupDay” panel featured pitches from startups and investors, in addition to the “Startups in Agribusiness – Integration and Innovation in Vale do Piracicaba”, with the participation of representatives from innovation hubs and incubators.
One of ESALQSHOW's proposals is to encourage the exchange of information and knowledge between students at universities in Brazil and abroad. This year, the event was attended by 14 postgraduate students and two professors from China Agricultural University (CAU), in Beijing. The group was coordinated by professor and researcher GuoPei, who was also a panelist.
The Innovation and Technology Fair also included the participation of Crop Jr., one of the companies that are part of the Innovation and Technology Transfer Agency (Agiitec) of the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM).
For Darcila Camargo, Agronomy student and member of the company, who is participating in ESALQSHOW for the first time, the exchange of experiences is extremely positive and worthwhile. “It was a big challenge for us to leave Rio Grande do Sul and be here. Our participation over the three days exceeded all difficulties and expectations. The event is very rich in content and the interaction with other universities, such as Esalq / USP, which is a reference and considered one of the best in Agronomy, expanded our vision, giving new horizons in the segment we operate in”, she emphasizes.
Agronomy student and also a member of Crop Jr., Alexandre Kazmirski, points out that ESALQSHOW provided contact with entrepreneurs and incubators, such as EsalqTec. “Having this first contact opens doors for us and, who knows, partnerships in the future. Furthermore, we were able to see what the business model is like and absorb information and ideas to our campus, which can be adapted to our reality,” he says.
Linked to the UFSM Agronomy course, the company Crop Jr. offers consultancy to rural producers in the Santa Maria region, in addition to working on urban perimeter projects, such as the development of vertical vegetable gardens.
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