Brazilian agriculture requires more biotechnologies

After Brazil met the challenge of producing food on a large scale, on land regarded as useless for agricultural cultivation, the country is faced with a new scenario, even more demanding of technologies. For the 2nd Bioeconomy Forum participants, event held in Sao Paulo by the Industry National Confederation (CNI) and Harvard Business Review, on October 10th, Brazilian agriculture will increasingly depend on the application of biotechnologies in order to maintain competitive advantage and continue increasing productivity.

Life sciences, which serve as the basis for bioeconomy, impact traditional practices of agricultural production technologies, human health and industrial biotechnology. The use of bioplastics in the industry, the development of biofuels such as Brazilian ethanol, and the replacement of chemical fertilizers by biological nitrogen fixation are examples of bioeconomy technologies.

"The life code is beginning to permeate, change and drive increasingly diverse areas of the economy. It is important to understand that Latin America, adopts, adapts and starts to have a leading role in these changes," says Juan Enriquez, Biotechonomy CEO and former member of the project life sciences at Harvard University. According to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the bio-economy circulates world market in approximately € 2 trillion and generates about 22 million jobs.

Bioeconomy concept has been used in Brazil to adapt the zebu cattle, soybeans and other crops from colder climates to tropical conditions. "The Brazilian soybean uses no chemical fixation of nitrogen. Only this technology pays Brazilian investment in agricultural research," says Embrapa’s president, Mauricio Lopes, one of the participants for the debate "The contribution of bioeconomy for agribusiness ".

The biological nitrogen fixation in soybean generates a gain estimated in US$ 6 billion a year, amount required for cultivation if farmers were to use chemical fertilizers. For Pedro Luiz Fernandes, regional president of Novozyme Latin America, spreading the use of inoculants in the production of other leguminous, in order to replace fossil fertilizer for biological nitrogen use, remains a challenge for Brazilian agriculture.

"There is a cultural matter and there is even a lobby for farmers not to use inoculants. Some farmers do not believe in biofertility. Argentina is far ahead in the use of inoculants," emphasizes Fernandes.

In a scenario of constant climate change and global population growth, the development and use of biological products in the areas of agriculture, industrial biotechnology and human health gain importance because it allows reducing the impact of economic activities on the environment, such as when a farmer replaces chemical fertilizers by inoculant.

Besides the cultural dimension and the role of opposition groups, Forum participants agree that the advancement of Brazilian agriculture to bioeconomy depends on stable investments.

"The risk of cutting investment in Embrapa, recurring in many governments," are one more problem for Brazil to adopt new technologies and to be able to maintain competitiveness in the agricultural sector, emphasizes Decio Zylbersztajn, professor and researcher at Sao Paulo University.

"The vigorous agribusiness system, the sector that is keeping the Brazilian economy, depends on investments," says Aydin. The researcher also highlights the challenges of "remaking the technical assistance system within the government,undone by Collor."

Among the advances already achieved, Maurício Lopes highlights the climate risk zoning of sugarcane and other crops, initiative seen as essential for Brazil to start preparing for a scenario of climate change. If expectations are confirmed, changes in climate" will have greater impact in the tropical belt of the globe," emphasizes Lopes .

For Lopes, the Brazilian energy matrix, composed of 47% renewable sources, tends to further advance sustainability in the use of new biomass technologies. Beyond cellulosic ethanol, Embrapa research sorghum to reduce dependence on sugarcane ethanol and extend the usage time of the plants.

As a way to cope with the new scenario, Lopes emphasizes the importance of the Low Carbon Agriculture Program and the need to advance strategic intelligence systems, one of the actions put in place by South Korea to take a leap to development.

The director of policies and strategy of CNI, Jose Augusto Fernandes, said at the closing of the Forum that the document "Bioeconomy , an agenda for Brazil" should serve as an incentive for public policies are implemented . The areas established as priorities for the agribusiness sectors  were blue biotechnology, bioreactors, plant and animal assisted reproduction, forest biotechnology, collection and conservation of germplasm, resistant plant abiotic and biotic stresses, genetically modified organisms and bioprospecting.