Soja Plus completes cycle in MT, MS, BA, MG and GO

The Soja Plus 2018 Seminar, held this Wednesday (21) in Campo Grande (MS) by agribusiness entities, brought results from the program developed in five states.

In 2017, the project had the participation of rural producers from Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Bahia and Minas Gerais, serving 320 farms. This year, the program was expanded to Goiás, with the launch of the Environmental Regularization Booklet and now has 80 more rural properties.

For 2019, the partner entities intend to extend the distribution of publications on management and technical assistance activities to rural producers in Tocantins and Maranhão.

At the Seminar held at the headquarters of Famasul (Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul), awards were also given to producers who stood out in social, economic and environmental practices.

According to the coordinator of Soja Plus, Bernardo Pires, sustainability manager at the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (ABIOVE), responsible for a lecture during the Seminar, the program shows how it is possible to produce while conserving natural resources, taking care of the health of employees and with complete safety in activities. “Rural owners benefit from important guidance for farm management”, he explains.

The results

In Mato Grosso, the state that leads soybean production in the country and where Soja Plus began in 2011, 1.300 farms in 16 municipalities have been visited since the beginning of the program.

The properties total 1,7 million hectares of soybeans. In seven years, producers participated in 29 workshops, 10 of which were in partnership with TNC (The Nature Conservancy). There were also three field days, with a total audience of more than 5.000 people, socio-environmental technical booklets were distributed and educational videos were shown.

In Goiás, a state debuting in the Soja Plus program in 2018, 32 farms were visited and three courses on health and safety were given. The activities took place in 18 municipalities.

Host of the Seminar to end the year, the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, which has participated in Soja Plus since 2013, had the participation of 42 municipalities. In these five years, 542 properties with an area equivalent to 580 thousand hectares of soy received technical visits. 25 courses on environmental legislation were held.

In Bahia, project activities began in 2014 and involved 620 rural producers, with visits to 196 farms in nine municipalities totaling 503 thousand hectares. In four years, around 65 thousand kilometers were covered by the team, which carried out 44 courses and 22 field days.  

In Minas Gerais, Soja Plus arrived in 2014 and promoted 11 seminars and workshops, seven field days, six courses for university students and five classes through Banco do Brasil on credit lines. In 2015, with the start of technical assistance on rural properties in the state, 109 farms in 15 municipalities were served by the program.

Award-winning producers

Every year, Soja Plus rewards soybean farmers who have excelled in sustainable, economic and social practices on their properties.

The criteria for choosing the winners are divided into two themes: Socio-environmental Legislation and Good Practices – such as quality of the working environment, training in the application of agrochemicals and employee health management – ​​and Rural Constructions, such as accommodation for employees, storage area coexistence and deposit of empty packaging.

Below are the producers awarded this year:

Mato Grosso do Sul

Walter Schlatter, Fazenda Nova França, municipality of Costa Rica

Adriano Loeff, Santa Therese Farm, Chapadão do Sul

Walter Duch, Fazenda Estrela, also from Chapadão do Sul

Bahia
Moisés Schmidt, Orquídeas Farm, in the city of Barreiras