With record numbers of registrations, the 12th Brazilian Cotton Congress will begin this Monday

This is the biggest event in Brazilian cotton farming, and, in 2019, it broke attendance records over all previous editions. The 12th CBA is organized by the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (Abrapa), with financial support from the Brazilian Cotton Institute (IBA), and, scientifically, from Embrapa, with sponsorship from 29 companies in the sector. The 12th CBA program includes six plenary sessions, 24 thematic rooms, five workshops, and mobilizes 107 speakers, including national and international. A show by country singer Leonardo from Goiás, on Thursday night, closes the 2019 edition of the Congress, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of Abrapa. Among the speakers are economist Ricardo Amorim and historian and writer Leandro Karnal. 

This year, the CBA comes with innovations in the schedule and format, starting with the number of days, which are now three complete, instead of four, as in previous years. The change did not affect the content, and was designed to facilitate logistics for the public. Another new feature is a space dedicated to startups – ten, in total - with daily rounds of pitching. Furthermore, the Congress is giving even more emphasis to academic research in the spatial configuration of the congress. Scholarships worth R$10 and participation in national and international cotton farming events were the strategy of the scientific committee of the 12th CBA to stimulate national research on cotton commodity. In this edition, the scientific committee counted 175 works registered. In addition to the traditional posters, they will also be presented in digital format. 

Record harvest  

For the president of Abrapa, Milton Garbugio, who is also the president of the 12th CBA, the fact that it takes place in Goiânia, right in the heart of the cerrado, a biome that concentrates feather production, accounts for the high rate of registrations. “We already expected this and prepared for it. We also compressed the grid into three full days, without reducing the content. It was a rearrangement to optimize the participants’ agenda”, explains Garbugio. 

The record harvest, which should total 2,8 million tons at the end of the harvest in the coming days, contributed to encouraging representatives from the entire production chain. “In particular, cotton producers, who, through Abrapa, build this congress in line with their real demands. This is one of the most avant-garde and organized sectors in Brazilian agriculture, attributes made possible precisely by the ability of cotton farmers to promote and consume initiatives like this”, says Milton Garbugio.

Multidisciplinary 

Theory and practice will also be present in the congress program, through thematic workshops, workshops. The scientific committee selected current and relevant topics, which will be addressed from a perspective aligned with reality. “In the workshops, the participant will be able to experience the applicability of the subject covered, in an attractive and interesting way”, reveals the scientific coordinator of the CBA, Jean Bèlot. 

Ricardo Amorim and Leandro Karnal, two of the attractions, illustrate the multidisciplinary and current nature of the Brazilian Cotton Congress (12th CBA), which goes beyond exclusively technical and market themes. “Congress is like an antenna, which captures and disseminates trends. It is made by cotton farmers for cotton farmers, but from a macro perspective, which includes economics, marketing, creativity and technology, because the world of cotton is also all of that”, concludes the president