PointofView
JOSÉOTÁVIOMENTEN
Director of the Scientific Council for Sustainable Agriculture (SCSA)
Gains in
allareas
ProductionofgrainsinBrazilwentup198%overthepast35years,
whilsttheareacultivatedbythefarmersexpandedonly28%
A
t some moments, Brazilian ag-
riculturemight have its reputa-
tionandimagequestioned,but
the scientific community keeps
a close watch on the techno-
logical innovations and the development
of Brazilian agriculture, based on data that
corroborate the seriousness of our national
agribusiness. This is what is pursued by the
Scientific Council for Sustainable Agricul-
ture (SCSA), created with the aim to debate
issues related to sustainability. Agronomic
engineer José Otavio Menten, financial di-
rector at SCSA,maintains that it is necessary
for truth to prevail, in any circumstance.
“Brazilisleaderinproductionandexports
of soybean, corn, sugarcane, cotton and or-
anges, among others. These conquests have
taken place in parallel to social development
in the countryside and high respect and
awareness of the environment”, he recalls.
According to him, the soaring productivity
rates were more important than the expan-
sion in planted area, seeing that 65% of the
Brazilian territory is still covered with native
forests. Over the past 35 years, the produc-
tion of grains in Brazil went up 198%, whilst
the cultivatedarea increasedby28%.
The official has it that the Country has
developed its own technologies to sur-
mount its limitations as a tropical country,
where all agricultural crops are subject to
pest outbreaks. “Control measures are nec-
essary, including the use of phytosanitary
products to reduce losses, keep productivi-
ty rates, quality and the compatible costs of
any agricultural produce”, he ponders. Inte-
grated Pest Management (IPM) consists in
anamalgamof all availablemethods: genet-
ic, biological, cultural, legislative and chem-
ical. The result of the best practices is that,
from2004 to 2011, therewas a 3-percent re-
ductionintheuseofphytosanitaryproducts
per product unit inBrazil.
According to Menten, our national agri-
business is doing its homework, with re-
sponsibility and care. “The phytosanitary
products in use in Brazil are extremely safe,
developed by companies that make use of
state-of-the-art technology. For a newprod-
uct to reach the farmers, there is need for
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