Working group evaluates impacts of technologies in areas producing parsnips, garlic and tomatoes

The evaluation of the effectiveness of the results of technologies developed by Embrapa Hortaliças (Brasília-DF), that is, their adoption by producers in a satisfactory manner, has received important reinforcement in recent months through the creation of a working group with the mission to check on site the achievement of the goals set out in the research projects.

This is the mission of the group formed by members of the Technology Prospecting and Assessment Sector (Spat), responsible for the conception and actions concerning the work plan, and researcher Carlos Pacheco, a specialist in environmental issues. Divided into specific areas, the team that has been working with producers collects and systematizes data relating to the levels of adoption of the technologies developed and their socioeconomic and environmental impacts.

The initial action plan for this work included technologies related to cassava, garlic and tomato materials, within the coexistence of three pillars: social, economic and environmental. In this context, the cultivation of the cassava-salsa Amarela Senador Amaral, in the south of Minas Gerais, was evaluated; virus-free garlic, in the center-south of Piauí; and BRS Nagai and BRS Zamir tomatoes, in several regions of Brazil and the Central-West, respectively.

First results

Launched in 1998, the Amarela Senador Amaral parsnip is still dominant in the market, but is gradually being replaced by BRS Rúbia, which after its launch in 2015 has been growing in planted area, due to its rusticity and, mainly, productivity – 1,5 .1,2 boxes per bushel versus XNUMX for Amarela Senador Amaral. Furthermore, other factors must be considered.

“A very important issue in the evaluation of mandioquinha-salsa is related to the social and economic impact in the southern region of Minas Gerais, where potato farming has always been the flagship, but which has been losing space, in recent times, to the expansion of the culture. in the Cerrado”, points out Pacheco. “Furthermore, potato prices were no longer attractive due to market variations, making cultivation unfeasible, and in this scenario BRS Rúbia was presented as an alternative for cultivation and income gain”, he notes.

As it presents, among the specificities of long-cycle crops, the lowest price fluctuation, a large part of potato growers migrated to the cultivation of parsley cassava under the Embrapa brand. “Practically 100% of the cultivated materials are ours – firstly, Amarela Senador Amaral being gradually replaced by BRS Rúbia, accompanied (still from afar) by BRS Catarina, another Embrapa Hortaliças cultivar.

Another point raised by the researcher concerns the social impact of those families staying in that region. According to him, the cassava clearly allowed agricultural production to continue in the countryside, but not just that. “Many producers highlight that the activity has allowed them to live with dignity, with their family’s needs met.”

Garlic in Piauí

Virus-free garlic technology took the group to Piauí, more precisely to the municipality of Picos. In addition to the technology itself, the work was anchored in the ongoing project to revitalize garlic cultivation in the region. Of great economic importance in the more or less recent past, garlic production was absorbed by large producers from other locations, which had major impacts on the lives of small producers in the region.

For Pacheco, the social aspect of the project, which promotes actions to rescue the regional culture of garlic production, was quite evident. “It is a project that has an economic aspect in a very poor region and that also has a relatively great environmental importance because it has been transferring the cultivation of garlic, previously carried out on riverbeds – with the implications that this brings to the environment – ​​to more remote areas. propitious and there is still the fact that a good part of the farmers are producing in the organic system”.

With the participation of Embrapa Hortaliças as manager of a process that goes beyond technology, and the partnership with Sebrae and Senar, culture is once again becoming economically important in the region.

“These two projects – mandioquinha-salsa and virus-free garlic – are quite emblematic in terms of social issues and show how important this social aspect of Embrapa is in society”, says Pacheco.

Tomatoes on the rise

Producers who believed in the potential of BRS Nagai, table salad, and BRS Zamir, grape tomatoes, have had no reason to complain. In the case of BRS Nagai, its characteristics of resistance and/or tolerance to multiple diseases have attracted tomato growers from different regions and ecosystems: Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Distrito Federal, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará have adopted the cultivation of the salad, with emphasis on the organic cultivation system.

Adoption by organic producers is credited with a significant reduction in production costs, as resistance factors to multiple diseases and pests enable pesticide-free cultivation and contribute to greater sustainability in terms of environmental preservation and benefits for the health of the producer. and the consumer.

Regarding BRS Zamir, the researcher informs that case studies are being carried out in the Federal District and in Goiás. Parallel to these studies, a prospection of demands from the production chain is carried out, which includes technicians, presidents of associations and cooperatives, “trying to evaluate what we can do to contribute, as a company, to meeting the needs of these segments”.

Pacheco reports on the group's visit to the administrative region of Brazlândia (DF) to verify the adoption of BRS Zamir, starting prospecting in the resale sector. “In the dealership where we went, specifically, tomato sales corresponded to almost 70% of sales in 2018, a very significant percentage”, he says.

After this rehearsal, the visit to the producer “100% Zamir” did not go against expectations. According to producer Vinícius Borges, BRS Zamir starts with an advantage in terms of seed prices: while a competing tomato seed unit costs R$ 2,46, the price of tomato seeds developed by Embrapa Hortaliças is R$ 1,96. .XNUMX.

The full adoption of the hybrid also has (a lot) to do with the characteristics of resistance to attacks by pests and diseases, which results in fewer pesticides and, consequently, less costs, for the pocket and for the environment. “To give an example, the producer told about a very severe mite attack in his greenhouse that affected all the other plants, except those at BRS Zamir.”

The group's work continues and the next material to enter the process is the BRS Araguaia melon, as its first harvests took place during the month of December. “As the main region for adopting BRS Araguaia is the São Francisco Valley, we will only have to start evaluating the impacts next year.”