New Year, New Government and New Paths for Brazilian Agriculture
It’s been over a year since I’ve written anything about Brazilian agriculture on the Global Ag Tech Initiative (formerly PrecisionAg.com). In that time a lot has changed in my country, the first of which was the government. Brazilians went through a political conflict that divided the country. But in the end, between the high and lows, we have a new government, with a new team and new ideas. What I learned in my six-year journey as an ag tech entrepreneur is that we always have to adapt and do the best with what we have at hand. It will be four years of new government and we have to always move forward seeking excellence.
Agriculture in Brazil is gigantic, but I will highlight some key points on the state of the industry. This past year, Brazil went through a severe drought in the south of the country, causing us to lose billions of reais, and making an extremely challenging year for small farmers there.
In my state, Mato Grosso, the rains were very good and we had regions with excellent production. But what has been concerning has been an anomaly in soybeans — an unknown disease that occurs in some regions, making us have to think differently about fungicide management and positioning of soybean varieties. This anomaly causes breakage of plants and damage in soybean grains. We still don’t have a full understanding of this problem.
Despite these issues, I have been seeing a lot of optimism within Brazilian agriculture. The first of which is that the market for biological products has been growing year after year, and it has been a very useful tool for combating pests and diseases.
MORE BY MAURICIO NICOCELLI NETTO
How a Digital Platform Is Creating Transparency with Brazilian Harvest Data and Bringing Security to Investors
Brazilian Agtech Startup Brings Aerial Application Management Platform to North American Market
How Ag Fintech Is Transforming Brazilian Agribusiness and Its Access to Rural Credit
We are also expanding connectivity in the field, led by companies like TIM Brasil, Claro, and Vivo that have been installing cell towers in agricultural areas and connecting machines. I have a large client that owns the Case IH and New Holland dealer brands in my region and they intend to connect more than 2,000 machines next year. This will further promote connectivity actions and installation of more towers in my region. This will bring better fleet management, fuel economy, and machine maintenance.
From greater connectivity to increased sustainability, the future of Brazilian agriculture looks bright.
Even small farmers are using the Starlink mobile internet solution. They are jumping on the connectivity bandwagon in Brazil and improving their management and processes on their farms. We have Elon Musk to thank for this technology.
The soil carbon market continues to grow in Brazil, led by companies like Bayer and Regrow. They are educating farmers to create regenerative and sustainable agriculture to be another source of income for the producer. This education helps in the rational use of fertilizers and additives, and also the use of cover crops without leaving the soil exposed.
The Reverte project in Brazil — a joint initiative by Syngenta Group and The Nature Conservancy — aims to recover degraded areas of pasture in productive areas for soy and corn, promoting credit to make agriculture more sustainable and discourage deforestation. Today, we have more than 80 million hectares of pastures that can become crops in the coming years.
These actions by companies and initiatives all have great potential. The new government has a strong agenda in sustainability. Led by the new Minister of Agriculture Carlos Favaro, there’s been more accessible lines of credit for sustainable farmers, growth in promoting telemetry, and an overall greater focus on precision agriculture in Brazil. Large farms like SLC AgrÃcola and Brasil Agro are already more evolved in terms of sustainability, making their GHG inventory of carbon emissions and capturing resources at much lower rates in the market.
In my view, this is the future and it is also where I am heading. Thank you for the space and wanting to know more about digital agriculture and sustainability in Brazil. I am at your disposal. To learn more, visit www.monagriap.com.
Subscribe Today For
