Lack of conservation practices is an obstacle to sustainable agriculture

Lack of conservation practices that prevent soil loss and compaction, inefficiency in the application of agricultural pesticides, poor sowing and lack of knowledge of environmental legislation. This list of the main problems that hinder sustainable agricultural production was detailed by the advisor of the Advanced Innovation Studies Division of Senar-RS, Renan dos Santos, during the ABAG Regional Forum – Challenges of Sustainable Agribusiness, promoted by the Brazilian Agribusiness Association, in this Friday (07/06), in Porto Alegre.

These are just some of the problems detected by a survey carried out by Senar-RS. “We are intensifying actions in the search for solutions in different ways. A concrete example is an idea developed by a startup that placed a camera at the tip of sprayers to rationalize the application of pesticides”, said the speaker, who participated in the Forum's first panel, on Innovation. 

The meeting was opened by the director of Agricultural Policy at the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development of RS, Ivan Bonetti, who gave an overview of the reformulations being made at the Secretariat with a view to expanding innovation. “One of our priorities is to develop a system to collect and disseminate reliable data on agriculture in Rio Grande do Sul,” stated Bonetti. He also added that several sectoral chambers are being created, including one focused on Mercosur and Foreign Trade. “The idea is to work more with programs and not with isolated actions”, he concluded.

Next, the researcher from Embrapa Trigo de Passo Fundo-RS, José Denardin, addressed the issue of the generation and adoption of new technologies by rural producers. “We need to make it clear that the most important thing about having a technological innovation is how to adopt it. The technology generated needs to be incorporated into the farmer's daily routine and the conclusion reached is that we need to do well with the old technology that is already incorporated into everyday life. In many cases we are not even doing this well. We notice this very clearly in the negligence in dealing with the soil”, commented Denardin. 

Nestor Bonfanti, vice-president of the Federation of Agricultural Workers of Rio Grande do Sul, who opened the second panel, which dealt with Agriculture and the Environment, agrees with the analysis by the Embrapa Trigo researcher. “Technology and innovation is important and necessary, but it is often not understood by the farmer”, he warned. For him, better technical assistance would help in this matter. “Without good assistance to rural people, especially those in family farming, we will also not advance in the issue of best environmental practices”, added Bonfanti.

The president of the State Foundation for Environmental Protection (Fepam), of the RS Environment Secretariat, Marjorie Kauffmann, followed the same line. In her view, the procedures adopted by state and municipal administrations in the environmental area need to be in harmony with national policy. “In this sense, the stance of placing the lack of basic sanitation as one of the country's main environmental problems, perhaps helps to take agribusiness out of its villainous position in this area”, observed Marjorie, adding that: “preservation is also an element important for increasing productivity.”

Professor Pedro Selbach, from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, also participated in the debates. In his opinion, we need to emphasize and highlight Brazil's positive points on the environmental issue. “We need to show, for example, that our energy matrix is ​​made up of 47,3% renewable energy, compared to just 18,6% on the global average, and only 7% in OECD countries. 

At the end of the event, the executive director of ABAG, Luiz Cornacchioni highlighted the importance and opportunity of holding the Forum. “It is worth emphasizing that innovation was what made Brazilian agribusiness thriving. And innovation is only useful if it reaches where it is most needed, in rural producers. In this sense, it is urgent to restructure our rural assistance area. Without this, Brazilian agriculture will not take the leap it needs to remain productive and world leader”, concluded Cornacchioni.
The event was sponsored by Syngenta and supported by FARSUL - Federation of Agriculture of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, FETAG-RS - Federation of Agricultural Workers in Rio Grande do Sul, SARGS - Society of Agronomy of Rio Grande do Sul and Sindiveg – National Union of the Plant Defense Products Industry.