Prospera Program announces new supporters and expands operations in the Northeast

After impacting the lives of more than 1.000 small farmers in the semiarid and forest areas of the Northeast, Prospera enters a new phase. Two new supporters become part of the program: Yara, a world leader in plant nutrition, and Massey Ferguson, a global brand from the AGCO group - a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of precision agricultural machinery and technology. Corteva Agriscience is also the sponsor of the program, which has the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) and the Brazilian Association of Corn Producers (Abramilho).

Since 2017, Prospera has enabled large-scale corn production in rural areas of the state of Pernambuco by training small farmers in modern techniques for planting and marketing grains. This transformation provides an expansion of income for farmers in the region, who reinvest their profits in the next crop, promoting the development of their communities.

The arrival of new supporters will allow the expansion of Prospera's activities to the states of Alagoas, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará. Today, these states produce approximately 900 thousand tons of grains, but there is a local demand estimated at more than 6,6 million tons and driven by the poultry and livestock sectors. This makes the price of grain in these states one of the highest in Brazil.

Partners also bring their knowledge to the initiative, making this support for rural producers even more complete. While Massey Ferguson offers all the expertise for the best use of agricultural machinery and implements for the producer to have more profitability in the field; Yara provides personalized nutritional recommendations, based on soil analysis in the region and the company's century-old knowledge on the subject, so that farmers can enhance their productivity and sustainability results.

“Prospera is a successful example of how public-private partnerships can make important contributions to communities across the country. With training and technology, it is possible to bring large-scale production and high productivity to the Northeast”, highlights Fernando Henrique Schwanke, Secretary of Family Agriculture and Cooperatives at MAPA.

Since the beginning of the program, Corteva has offered theoretical and practical training on correct crop management. Farmers also receive in-person and digital technical assistance so they can produce with the most modern cultivation techniques, improving productivity.

“Regardless of the culture and region, there are countless challenges facing rural producers in Brazil. However, in family farming established in the semiarid and forest areas of the Northeast, the obstacles to achieving efficiency and high productivity are even more important. The arrival of new supporters will boost Prospera, benefiting thousands of families and transforming the Northeast into a relevant corn production hub”, comments Augusto Moraes, Director of Government Relations at Corteva Agriscience.

The expectation is that the combination of technologies and agricultural solutions developed by the supporters can lead to a new production record for Prospera, which currently stands at 125 bags per hectare. The program's objective for the next five years is to impact more than 50 thousand small farmers, helping them to supply the local chain.

Smart agricultural solutions

The participation of Massey Ferguson, a brand belonging to AGCO, in Prospera, will be through the sharing of information and best mechanization practices so that small rural producers in the Northeast region can achieve greater productivity and increase profitability.

The brand's entry into the project is in line with its mission to help farmers grow more food in the coming years - while balancing the challenges of limited arable land availability, climate change concerns, changes in consumption pattern and discussions about sustainability.

Recently, AGCO announced its new 'Farmer-first' strategy, designed to maximize value creation among its key customers, with its Purpose to deliver “Farmer-focused solutions to sustainably feed our world ” and its Vision to be “A trusted partner and leader in smart solutions for the agricultural sector”.

“The partnership with the Prospera program is fully aligned with our strategy, based on the need to help farmers produce more, with less waste, in a sustainable way and with high quality and profitability. We will support the project with our experience to better use agricultural machinery and implements in order to promote income generation and the development of rural communities, with increased productivity and profitability”, informs Luis Felli, president of AGCO South America.

Agronomic and nutritional support

As the new supporter of Prospera, Yara has offered all nutritional recommendations so that farmers participating in the program can produce more and more, optimizing resources, in a more sustainable way.

For more assertive action, Yara interpreted soil analyzes in the region to determine which nutrients were most suitable for enhancing the results of corn crops. The highlight goes to zinc, an extremely important nutrient for corn cultivation, which has been applied in seed treatment by producers, when the plant is emerging, thus bringing benefits to stimulate rooting. With a stronger and deeper root, the plant becomes more tolerant to water deficits and more resistant to climate change.

Another advantage is the replacement of urea-based fertilizers with a more efficient nitrogen source, such as ammonium nitrate-based solutions, which do not present loss due to ammonia volatilization like urea. With them, the producer directly reduces gas emissions, and even stores more carbon in the soil for its production system.

In addition to offering a complete portfolio of nutrition solutions, Yara has also made experts available to participate in video classes and webinars available to farmers, disseminating its century-old knowledge in nutrition, as it believes that knowledge makes the field grow.

“We are very pleased and excited to be part of this program – which meets our mission to feed the world and protect the planet, always in close collaboration with partners across the entire food value chain. Bringing solutions in nutrition and knowledge to adopt increasingly climate-positive practices will help the socioeconomic development of the region, at the same time that we contribute to decarbonization from farm to table”, says Deise DallaNora, director of Innovation in Yara Food Solutions.

History of Prospera

Prospera is a program that enables large-scale corn production by small producers in the Northeast, contributing to improving the living conditions of their families and rural communities.

The program began in 2017, in Pernambuco, with a group of 45 participants. Corteva observed that corn farmers in this region practiced subsistence agriculture, using an outdated production system.

Recent data (May/2021) from the National Supply Company (CONAB) estimate that the average corn productivity in Brazil is 89 bags per hectare. The same report also points out that, in the state of Pernambuco alone, the average productivity is just 13 bags per hectare. However, producers in the state who participated in the Prospera Program managed to increase this number to 80 bags, as a result of more modern cultivation techniques and the adoption of technologies in crops.

In 2019, the program signed a cooperation agreement with local universities and technical schools, to also train students, who will be future professionals in the field and will strengthen this high-yield production system in the long term.

“Prospera is a concrete and decisive example of technical assistance and rural extension, focusing on the inclusion of small farmers in the production chains of modern agribusiness. The initiative promotes access to good practices and technologies, which transform agriculture that was subsistence into a professional business linked to the market. Through collective effort, it contributes to the evolution of the individual and strengthens the even greater viability of the third corn harvest in the country”, reinforces Cesario Ramalho, institutional president of ABRAMILHO.

Last year, with Corteva's entry into the Cubo community, the largest hub for promoting technological entrepreneurship in Latin America, Prospera carried out an open innovation process with startups from different sectors. The partnership has already yielded advances on three fronts: video classes, machinery rental and marketplace for access to agricultural products and services not available in the region.