Event opens the new laboratory of the IAC-Quepia program to researchers and agribusiness companies

With the presence of executives from the protective clothing and agricultural pesticide industries, as well as scientists and members of entities such as Fundag – Foundation for Support to Agricultural Research, the leadership of the IAC-Quepia program presented its new research laboratory. The space, which began operating in 2019, is the most modern study center in the country for technological development of the PPE industry (protective equipment for work with pesticides).

Installed in an area of ​​300 m² - inside the Engineering and Automation Center of the Agronomic Institute (CEA-IAC) - and made possible with resources raised from the private sector, through Fundag, the new laboratory required an investment of around R$ 400 thousand . 

At the opening of the event, scientific researcher Hamilton Ramos, coordinator of IAC-Quepia, highlighted the relevance of this program for Brazil. “Today we work in partnership with scientists and international entities, seeking global certification for rural work protection equipment. The modernization of the laboratory brings more innovation, to continually increase the safety of rural workers”, summarized Ramos.

“We will take a leap in quality in relation to rural work safety and protective products manufactured in Brazil”, added the director of CEA-IAC, Moisés Storino. “Our research center is currently carrying out model work, which serves with excellence the interests of farmers, industry and international research partners.”

For the administrative director of Fundag, Renato Ferraz de Arruda Veiga, the entity supporting agricultural research, established in Campinas (SP), has made permanent contributions to the development of programs that benefit sustainable agriculture, which is why it supported the construction of the new laboratory from Quepia. “This is a project that serves Brazilian agriculture and also promotes safety and the environment,” he said.

Already considered by experts in the field to be one of the most modern spaces of its kind in the world, the new Quepia laboratory will also expand the program's scope of action. From now on, in addition to compliance studies applied to agricultural protective clothing, Quepia will certify the quality of gloves used by Brazilian workers when handling agrochemicals.