PointofView
MAURÍCIOANTÔNIOLOPES
President of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa)
Feedingis
necessary
In40years,Embrapahelpedreducethepriceoffoodtohalf,andproduction
receivedasignificant600-percentboost,justdoublingtheplantedarea
S
cienceplays a relevant role in the
recent development of the na-
tional agriculture. The Brazilian
Agricultural Research Corpora-
tion(Embrapa)anditspartnerin-
stitutions have made it possible for Brazil to
develop an agriculturemodel strongly based
on scientific and technological knowledge,
focused on the solution of problems of the
tropical belt of the globe, and this has made
all the difference for the Country. The pres-
ident of Embrapa, Maurício Antônio Lopes,
from the city of Bom Despacho, in Minas
Gerais, nowserving the Corporation as presi-
dent for almost five years, maintains that the
breakthroughs in agricultural technology in
tropical environments reached considerable
progress, with positive impacts upon agri-
business and theenvironment.
Lopes recalls that in the 1970s self-suffi-
ciency in the production of food was a dis-
tant reality, and the Country had to put up
with the shady specter of food insecurity.
“We were big importers of food, like grains,
meat and milk, and we had frequent sup-
ply crises”, he recalls. “The petroleum cri-
sis, in 1973, aggravated the situation, as
the money spent on petroleum and food
imports gave rise to economic instability,
apprehension and uncertainty.”
In that crisis context, and under the in-
spiration of visionary Brazilians, Embrapa
was created, and entered into partnerships
with universities, strengthening research
works in every state, whilst providing for
technical assistance and rural extension
services. “Back then, Brazil managed to
come up with an unprecedented model of
tropical agriculture based on science. It is
an infallible equation, which made it pos-
sible for the people to reduce their average
expenses on the daily meals from 48% of
their income in the 1970s to less than 20%
nowadays”, he argues.
In 40 years, Brazil got rid of its depen-
dence on imported food and became one
of the leading food producers in the world.
The grain crop jumped from30million tons,
in 1972, to the new record estimated for the
2016/17 growing season, 215 million tons.
The planted area went up from 28 million
Sílvio Ávila
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