Unesp will coordinate research in partnership with the production sector

With the gradual, planned and environmentally desired end to burning as a strategy for harvesting sugar cane in the State of São Paulo, the sugar-energy industry was looking for innovative and ecologically appropriate tools to combat old pests and diseases that were harmful to the cultivation of the crop. , such as Sugarcane Weevil (Sphenophorus levis), Hairy Caterpillar (Hyponeuma taltula) and Sugarcane Wilting Syndrome.

Holding know-how from three decades of fieldwork applying integrated pest management, which advocates respect for the environmental factors involved in the cultivation of a given crop and favors the use of biological control agents, Unesp was the institution chosen to lead the Engineering Research Center - Plant Health in Sugarcane, a notice created through a partnership between Fapesp (Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo) and the São Martinho Group, one of the largest companies in the sector in Brazil , with three plants in operation in São Paulo and one in Goiás.

The Engineering Research Center - Plant Health in Sugarcane, the first under the coordination of Unesp, has as its main objective to find effective and competitive solutions for the control of pests and diseases that harm sugarcane production, strategic for the Brazilian economy. The work will bring together 31 researchers, from nine different institutions, 18 of which are from Unesp itself, and will receive a contribution of approximately R$8 million during the first five years of operation, which can be extended for the same period with a new contribution of resources. There is a maximum of ten years of financing, with half of the amounts financed by Fapesp and the other half by the São Martinho Group.

This long-term financing model aims to promote strong interaction between the university and the productive sector. The main mission, according to Fapesp, is “to carry out complex research projects oriented towards problems and the search for well-defined results, which contribute to the formation of a world-class research center during its existence”.

“The main objective of these centers is to develop innovative research, train human resources, develop talent and be an international reference center”, says professor Odair Aparecido Fernandes, from the Department of Plant Health at the Faculty of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences (FCAV), on campus of Jaboticabal from Unesp, which will coordinate the new Engineering Research Center. “The São Martinho Group approached Fapesp with demands in the area of ​​sugarcane plant health, with emphasis on problems with insect pests and diseases, it listed a series of questions and demands that the group and the sector have and we realized that we had the competence and expertise necessary to answer these questions and meet this demand”, says the FCAV-Unesp professor.

The proposal selected by Fapesp and the São Martinho Group, which had the support of the Pro-Rector of Research at Unesp (Prope) and the Unesp Innovation Agency (Auin), involves partnerships between FCAV and Unesp's Sorocaba campus, the Ribeirão Preto Sugarcane Center of the Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC), the São Paulo Agency for Agribusiness Technology (APTA), linked to the Secretariat of Agriculture and Supply, Esalq-USP, the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), the Unifran (France), Uniso (Sorocaba) and Coplana (Cooperativa Agroindustrial), located in the city of Guariba, which will be responsible for transferring technology to the sugar-energy sector. The Engineering Research Center's plan has as prerequisites the existence of internationally competitive research, the provision of means for technology transfer and the dissemination of knowledge. Therefore, education teachers are involved in the project to promote educational actions in public primary schools in Jaboticabal, part of the knowledge dissemination strategy required by the notice.

"This project is very interesting because we are not only committed to developing research and obtaining the answer or the final product. We also have two other pressing obligations. One is the transfer of technology to the sugar-energy sector. Not only the company will benefit, but the entire sector. And the cooperative will be responsible for transferring the know-how of what is developed. The other obligation is the dissemination of knowledge and, for this, we have teachers who will make this bridge with public schools, initially of Jaboticabal and then the other cities in the region, as we progress with the project. Then we will have the transfer of technology and the training of those who will be users of the technology we will develop," he said Odair Aparecido Fernandes, professor at the Department of Plant Health at the Faculty of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences (FCAV), at the Jaboticabal campus of Unesp. 

The Engineering Research Center led by Unesp will also have an international group of researchers, with notable experience in sugarcane cultivation and, particularly, in plant health, who will be responsible for evaluating the evolution of the work carried out within the scope of the engineering center. search. In addition to Brazilians, the group includes scientists from France, Denmark, Canada and the United States.

“It is a partnership with an important national group, in a segment in which Brazil is very competitive, which is sugar and energy. I consider this center strategic, as it will place an important industry segment for the country and with a strong connection with São Paulo in connection with a university that is a leader in the area of ​​agricultural sciences”, says the pro-rector of research at Unesp, professor Carlos Graeff. “The effect of this is very positive, improving not only the research center itself, but certainly the entire environment that surrounds it”, says Graeff.

Production and environment together 

A work philosophy applied at Unesp for at least three decades, integrated pest management will guide the research at the Engineering Research Center - Plant Health in Sugarcane. The concept of this work, in general terms, involves a certain tolerance with the action of pests, based on the premise that their occasional existence is not something that will necessarily cause economic losses to the crop, and the development of biological control agents to neutralize the harmful effects of these insect pests from the moment they actually become a problem in industrial production.

“Our research over the years is to determine how much attack the plant tolerates, what type of biological control agent is present and whether the amount (of that agent) is large enough to reduce this pest problem. If this control does not occur, then we advise an intervention, always thinking about adding more biological control agents”, says professor Odair Fernandes.

Biological control agents can be microorganisms or even other insects that will combat insect pests. Recognizing these agents and knowing if they are friends, and not enemies, is fundamental to the work. Some biological control agents that will be studied at the newest research center have already been identified in the initial prospecting carried out by Unesp scientists.

“The fact that we put an end to the fires was positive from an environmental point of view, but it meant that some pests that were controlled at the time ceased to exist and became very serious problems for sugarcane cultivation”, says the professor at FCAV-Unesp . “Our objective, with regard to insect pests, is to get to know them better. Without this, we are unable to advance innovative biological control tools and develop programs. One of the center’s demands is precisely the development of environmentally friendly and sustainable control tools,” he states.

The development of cutting-edge studies, at the frontier of knowledge, should strengthen the University's culture of innovation and also bring significant academic gains in the coming years, as the new research center will count on the participation of Unesp graduates and, in particular, postgraduate students (master's students, doctoral students and post-doctoral students) from the Postgraduate Program in Agronomy - Agricultural Entomology, at FCAV.

“The engineering research center will put students in direct contact with the production sector and will make teachers work thinking about developing products and processes, and not just basic science. It is an innovative partnership model that provides a quick return for society, with the possibility of generating intellectual property, which would be shared between Unesp and the company, and workforce training, because the students who will work at this center will have great chances of being hired later”, highlights professor Wagner Valenti, director of the Unesp Innovation Agency (Auin).

The São Martinho Group, through the company's innovation manager, researcher Walter Maccheroni, also reinforced the innovative nature of the partnership and said it was “very satisfied” with Unesp's future collaboration in the Engineering Research Center - Plant Health in Cana- of sugar. “Our expectations are high for the creation of a new innovation ecosystem in the country and we are confident that this interaction between industry and universities will generate good results for our economy and society”, says Walter Maccheroni.

The expectation of the rector of Unesp, professor Sandro Roberto Valentini, is that the approval of the first engineering research center under the leadership of Unesp will inspire other initiatives in the same direction at the University. The announcement of the approval of Unesp's proposal was made by the rector in December, at the last meeting of the University Council of 2019. The grant agreement was signed at the end of January. “The selection of our proposal is recognition of the work carried out by everyone involved, the quality and impact of the team's scientific and technological production and the relevance of the proposed research plan. We hope that the approval of this center will inspire other qualified groups to submit proposals for centers of this nature, deepening the university's relations with the productive sector in the search for solutions to complex problems”, says Sandro Valentini.