Cerrado fruit and product chain receives investment of R$ 1,5 million

With resources of R$ 1,5 million, the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Seapa) launches a Public Call Notice, aiming at structuring the production of Civil Society Organizations that operate in the value chain of fruits and products from the Cerrado.

The notice will select projects for the acquisition of equipment aimed at expanding production and improving the quality and flow of fruits and products from the Cerrado. Family farming associations and cooperatives working within the scope of the Pró-Pequi Program, operating in the Cerrado and transition areas with the Caatinga, will benefit.

According to the undersecretary of Family Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development at Seapa and president of the Pro-Pequi Board of Directors, Ricardo Demicheli, improving the structuring of organizations is an important step towards strengthening the production chain for fruits and products from the Cerrado.

“The projects executed will generate a significant socioeconomic impact, since, in the northern region of Minas Gerais alone, more than 60 thousand families depend on agroextractivism for their livelihood and exploit the Cerrado in a sustainable way. By improving the structure, production and product quality are increased, promoting an increase in the income of these families”, he states.

To participate, the Civil Society Organization must be registered, with “regular” status, in the General Registry of Contractors of the State of Minas Gerais (Cagec), be a beneficiary of the Pró-Pequi Program, be geographically based in areas of Cerrado and its transitions with the Caatinga in Minas Gerais and complete the declaration of awareness and agreement as provided in the notice.

Agroextractivism

The Public Call Notice for the productive structuring of organizations is part of the Agroextractivism Action, linked to the Agricultural Production Chains Support Program, of the Department of Agriculture. The objective of the Action is to guarantee the guidelines of the Minas Gerais Incentive Program for the Cultivation, Extraction, Consumption, Commercialization and Transformation of Pequi and Other Fruits and Native Products of the Cerrado (Pró-Pequi).

Through action, with the aim of strengthening agroextractivism and concomitantly with the conservation of the Cerrado, Seapa has invested more than R$ 1 million in recent years to carry out projects that aim, mainly, to combat health problems that affect pequi trees. of the state and the development of the base of the production chain, with technical assistance to agroextractivists and their collective enterprises.