Minister and president of Embrapa learn about successful projects in the Northeast

The municipality of Cabaceiras, in Paraíba, marked the end of a four-day trip by the delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply through the Northeast, which also passed through the states of Piauí, Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte. The idea was to learn about projects that have support from Mapa in the region and that could later subsidize the Action Plan for Employment and Income Generation in the Northeast, which will be prepared by the Minister to be delivered to the Federal Government.

"Our intention is to gather all available data on projects focused on family farming, fishing and aquaculture, land issues and Forest Service demands, which are being coordinated by other areas of the government, systematizing efforts and initiatives by micro-regions", he recalled. Minister Tereza Cristina. The delegation was formed by the Secretary of Family Agriculture and Cooperatives, Fernando Schwanke; by the president of Embrapa, Sebastião Barbosa; by Mapa’s special advisor, Francisco Basílio de Souza; by the head of the Communications and Events Department, Mara Bergamaschi; and by the general heads of Embrapa Goats and Sheep, Marco Bomfim; from Embrapa Algodão, Liv Soares Severino; and from Embrapa Agroindústria Tropical, Lucas Leite; and the deputy head of Administration and Finance at Embrapa Meio-Norte, José Oscar Lustosa.

“I knew the Northeast as a tourist, but now it's for work”, declared Tereza Cristina, pledging to travel to the Northeastern states not included in the current trip at the end of March, to develop a policy to be launched by June for the semi-arid region and for the entire region. the region, which will be done jointly with other ministers. Schwanke, who accompanied the minister on the technical visits, will coordinate the work of systematizing information, crossing available data (from Embrapa, Incra and other bodies) on soil types, water availability, existence and conservation of roads, etc. The use of satellite images (georeferencing systems) will be one of the tools to be used by Mapa.

“I visited many successful projects that can be replicated and others that need support to get off the ground. This is what we are going to discuss in Brasília, with colleagues, such as Gustavo Canuto (minister of Regional Development), because water is an important issue here and that is up to him”, concluded the minister.

For the president of Embrapa, the visit to the four states was an excellent opportunity to contact local leaders and rural producers who are using the Company's technologies and increasing their monthly income. "The minister had the opportunity to check in the field, for example, the impact of our acerola varieties in the Semiarid region and also saw the first results of the development of a new bacteria for the production of goat cheese, the result of a project coordinated by researcher Antônio Silva Egypt , from Embrapa Goats and Sheep", stated Sebastião Barboza. He also confirmed that he received new research demands from producers for Embrapa for the coming years.

Paraíba

In Cabaceiras, the municipality in Paraíba where it rains the least in the entire country, minister Tereza Cristina learned about the work of the Cooperative of Tanners and Craftsmen in Leather of Ribeira and projects at the region's Caprinobovinocultores Cooperative. Founded 14 years ago, the cooperative processes goat skin using a vegetable tanning process, one of the best in the country, which generates practically no odor. The cooperative also processes leather of bovine origin (10% of its production).

In a meeting with local representatives of the agricultural sector, the minister defended the creation of a national irrigation program for the countryside, to try to improve the water supply for producers in the Northeast. Today, irrigation programs are linked to the Ministry of Regional Development.

One of the objectives, according to Tereza Cristina, is to unify actions aimed at irrigation, currently dispersed across different government bodies. “We need to have a policy to promote irrigation,” she argued. The minister was enthusiastic about “successful initiatives” that she saw in the region in those days and argued that water needs to be used for production, to make it efficient and competitive and provide quality of life for people from the Northeast.

He also defended the RenovaBio project, a biofuel policy that is being implemented in Brazil, and said that he will study how to make cotton cultivation grow again in the Northeast. “To fulfill Brazil’s potential for growth on the international stage, we need to be more aggressive and competitive,” he stated. Accompanied by the president of Embrapa, Sebastião Barbosa, she said that knowledge, technology, needs to leave the academies and reach the field. “Let’s leave vanity aside and work to democratize access to science.” As minister, she highlighted that she wants to make her contribution to make this happen.

The minister committed to reinforcing the ministry's support for Cabaceiras cooperatives. "We see here an embryo that the community achieved with great difficulty. Now, I know about the cooperative's desires to double production and provide more employment in this production chain. The model is ready! You need support, yes. OCB is here, several unions, you are an example, I leave here feeling emotional, with the certainty that we have the conditions to create the Brazil we want, the Brazil of those who work”.

The Japungu plant in Santa Rita (PB), known for using underground drip irrigation in the cultivation of sugar cane, was another project known to the delegation. With the use of this Israeli system, the property now has an average productivity of 112 tons of sugarcane per hectare, on the 3.550 hectares where the water pipes operate. On the rest of the farm, where there is no irrigation, the average yield is 45 tons per hectare. “The difference is impressive and means that each year the expansion of pipes is around 800 hectares”, explained the person responsible for the irrigation system, Alexandre Guerra.

The method consists of a network of hoses buried in the ground. Every 50 centimeters, drippers release water with doses of fertilizer. The durability of the network is 15 years. Using 40% less water and 30% less energy, in addition to increasing productivity, is one of the advantages of this irrigation method. The company's headquarters allocates 60% of the sugarcane grown to the manufacture of alcohol and the other 40% is transformed into sugar. The proportion is explained by the decline in sugar prices on the international market. Japungu has a high level of mechanization, but even so, it employs 3 thousand employees, a number that increases during the harvest season.

Piaui

In the first stage of the four-day trip to the Northeast, the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, visited on the afternoon of the 14th, in Parnaíba, Piauí, the Irrigated Perimeter Tabuleiros Litorâneos do Piauí, which produces, in the middle of the caatinga, organic fruits, like acerola. The food harvested in the project becomes raw material for the production of fruit pulp, which is exported to countries such as the United States and Germany and sold domestically to the states of Pernambuco, Maranhão and Ceará.

The flagship product of Tabuleiros Litorâneos is organic acerola, which is exported by a multinational. In addition to acerola, the project stands out in the production of watermelon, cashew, melon, papaya and other foods. Tabuleiros Litorâneos is also starting to implement beef cattle farming.

The project was implemented in 1989 and is under the responsibility of the National Department of Works Against Droughts (DNOCS). It uses the Parnaíba River to irrigate an area that currently covers 800 hectares, with another 2.443 hectares equipped and ready for land handling. The total irrigation potential is 8.428 hectares, which should be used in the second stage of the project.

In August 2018, the second stage of Tabuleiros Litorâneos was signed, with a forecast federal investment of R$27 million. The objective is to further stimulate irrigated fruit growing and expand the marketing potential for internal and external markets, generating new jobs and more income in the region. In total, approximately six thousand hectares will be irrigated, the equivalent of 430 agricultural lots destined for small producers and cooperatives in the region. The expectation is to generate around two thousand new jobs in the second phase of the project.

The minister noted that she was impressed with the production of organic products in the project she visited and added that works that are 10% or 30% left to be completed are a priority for this management. The resources invested in the Coastal Tabuleiros could already be returning in the form of taxes, she commented.

Mapa's Secretary of Family Agriculture, Fernando Schwanke, recalled that he is also a fruit grower and that he imagines the difficulty for local producers to produce organic acerola in the region. “This shows the potential of fruit growing and the entire Northeast,” he said. Regarding the continuity of works on the Tabuleiros Litorâneos project, in an interview with the press, the minister said that she will discuss the matter with the technical area of ​​Mapa and with the Minister of Regional Development, Gustavo Canuto, to see what measures can be adopted, what the schedule will be. planned and whether resources are available.

The minister praised the project's organic production and said that it will increase specific projects for several areas of the Northeast. “We are making a technical visit to get to know all the production chains in the region and here we know the strength that fruit growing is. This recognition was very good to see how fruit production is going well, pineapple, acerola, banana, including organic ones, for which the markets have a huge demand, especially in Europe”.

Ceará

Tereza Cristina visited on the morning of the 15th, in the municipality of São Benedito (CE), the Reijers farm, the largest exporter of roses in the country, which stands out for the use of biological control in production, with practices that cause low environmental impact. The minister was received, upon arrival, by representatives of the Margaridas peasant women's group and promised to meet with them in August, in Brasília, when they will have an event in the federal capital.

From Reijers' production, two tons of flowers per day basically supply the domestic market. With more than 30 years of experience in flower production, Rosas Reijers offers more than 50 varieties of roses, as well as other types of cut flowers such as alstroemerias, snapdragons, gypsophila, lilies, gerberas, as well as vase flowers. In total, there are 48 hectares of productive area that supply the national territory, including exports to the Netherlands. The roses are grown in a semi-hydroponics system, and at peak production, approximately 170 buds are harvested per day.

The irrigation system is done by drip, directing the amount of water and fertilizer necessary for its development to each plant. The company manufactures its own organic compost, from the cultural remains of flowers and used as fertilizer (reducing chemical fertilization). It has recycling stations, with separation of all waste produced and forwarding it to recycling locations.

It carries out integrated pest management, through the use of natural predators, from the production units themselves. Furthermore, it uses alternative products with the aim of reducing the consumption of agricultural pesticides, creating a more balanced and healthy environment. Reijers has water infiltration dams to collect rainwater and return it to the water table, preventing damage to the soil, such as erosion.

Tereza Cristina also visited on the 15th, in Ubajara (CE), the largest unit in the world for the production and processing of organic and biodynamic acerola (which includes chemical, geological and astronomical knowledge), from Amway Nutrilite, manufacturer of freeze-dried vitamin C, resulting dehydration process to maintain the flavor and nutrients of the fruit.

In addition to organic cultivation methods, central pivot, drip, sprinkler and micro sprinkler irrigation systems and water use management are used to preserve reservoirs. One of the curiosities on the property is an olive harvester adapted for use in the acerola harvest. Ubajara is a municipality in the Mesoregion of Noroeste Cearense, much sought after by tourists due to the National Park, where the Ubajara Cave is located, accessible by cable car.

On her last visit to the state, Tereza Cristina also went to Tianguá, near Ubajara, at Granja Emape, a poultry producer producing 500 eggs per day. The unit has automatic feed distribution and conveyor belt collection of eggs and waste. The system also transfers the eggs to the warehouse, where they are automatically classified and packaged.

After the visit to the state, which was attended by senator and former governor Tasso Jereissati, the minister met with businesspeople, rural producers, agribusiness leaders and politicians from the region.

Rio Grande do Norte

In the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Tereza Cristina met on Saturday (16), in Pendências (RN), at Fazenda Potiporã, the farm with the largest shrimp production in the country. In 2015, the disease known as white spot decimated production on the farm. The company was sold, expanded, redesigned and, last year, taking greater care with the quality of water and food, it started producing more than before facing the problem.

The minister also met in the municipality, at the headquarters of the Potiporã industry, with leaders of the Brazilian Association of Shrimp Breeders, which had representatives from Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia. The activity involves 3 thousand enterprises, 30 thousand direct jobs and one hundred thousand indirect jobs.

The sector's production last year was 77 thousand tons destined for the national market, with revenues of R$3 billion. But, according to the president of the association, Cristiano Peixoto Maia, next year the product should also be exported to the United States, the European Union and China. Among the entity's members, according to him, 77% are small producers.

“We have to support, and not hinder, ventures”, said the minister, adding that it is important that investor money does not remain idle, but in productive activity and income generation. “We want to be a facilitator, unlocking the sector, making it as little difficult as possible. And simplify, without making it precarious. Let’s do it together, the Three Powers and the private sector.”

In the state, she also visited Fazenda Famosa, in Mossoró, which occupies 7 thousand hectares, of which 3 thousand are dedicated to the cultivation of melons and watermelons. Accompanied by the president of Abrafrutas (Brazilian Association of Fruit and Derivatives Exporters), Luiz Roberto Barcelos, the minister toured the Famosa farm's cultivation area. The minister was informed about the fruit fly or Mediterranean fruit fly problem common to producers. Large producers work systematically to monitor the pest. But small ones encounter more difficulties with a lack of technical assistance and costs considered high.

The minister also met with state governor Fátima Bezerra to discuss the importance of water for agricultural production and fishing in the region. It was agreed that the technical teams from Mapa and the government of Rio Grande do Norte will meet again in Brasília to discuss the matter.

In an interview, at the end of the visit, Tereza Cristina highlighted that it is necessary for public policies to reach the producer without intermediaries, with technical assistance and abundant credit. The trip, she said, is important to see in situ, “what can be done in the region, which is so important for the country and so populated”.

Click here to access photos of the visit to the four states.