São Paulo – Research and educational organizations from Brazil and Morocco may join in order to establish an institute aimed at water resources for agriculture and livestock. The issue is being discussed, according to the ex-chairman and researcher of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa, in the Portuguese acronym), Silvio Crestana, who is leading the enterprise in Brazil. The organization would gather Brazilian and Moroccan research groups in the field.
Crestana, who was the chairman of Embrapa between 2005 and 2009, is currently a researcher of Embrapa Agricultural Instrumentation, in São Carlos, and is a permanent member of the Moroccan Academy Hassan II of Science and Technology. The eight-year long membership of the researcher in the academy was made possible due to a personal invitation.
The Academy should lead the Brazil-Morocco International Institute of Water Resources (loose translation) in the Arab country, but, in case the project comes into being, the participation of several Moroccan research and education institutes is foreseen as well as the International Institute of Ecology of the University of São Paulo (USP) and Embrapa in Brazil.
In the end of the year, the president of the General Council of Agricultural Development of Morocco, Mohamed Ait-Kadi, will be in Brazil to take part in the National Symposium of Water Resources (a loose translation of Simpósio Nacional de Recursos Hídricos in Portuguese), to be held in São Carlos between November 18th and 20th, when the issue should be dealt with. The council is responsible for creating the policies for the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. Moroccan academicians should also attend the event.
Embrapa has already cooperated with Morocco in the field of agriculture. In one of these ventures, Brazilian state-owned companies have been cooperating with the Arab country in a research into biological nitrogen fixation in soil. Brazil has already been using it with soy and it is working to apply the same technology in other plants, such as sugarcane.
By the method, a bacterium is inserted in the crop and helps nitrogen fixation, reducing the need for nitrogen fertilizers. However, the adequate bacteria for each plant and soil need to be found out. This is the part of the process Morocco is currently at, and Embrapa is helping. It is also being discussed a collaboration between Embrapa and Morocco in the development of plants more resistant to hydric stress, but this has not been decided yet.
Ideal partner
“Brazil relies heavily on Morocco for phosphorus and phosphate,” says Crestana, noting that likewise, Brazil is a major supplier of agricultural products to Morocco. “We have a significant bilateral trade flow with them,” he says. Apart from trade, there are similarities in climate, according to the former Embrapa chairman.
While participating in the Hassan II Science and Technology Academy in Morocco, Crestana was afforded a closer look into a few peculiarities of Moroccan agriculture. He witnessed projects focusing on argan, a plant whose oil boasts medicinal properties, on forest studies, citriculture, olive trees, sheep and goats, and on water resources in agriculture, which is Crestana’s line of work. The former Embrapa chairman conducts research on ground instruments, water and the impact agriculture has on hydric resources.
Academy
As a member of Hassan II Academy, Crestana attends an annual members’ meeting usually held in February, in Rabat. The forum features world-class specialists, including Nobel Prize winners, and debates are held on a certain aspect of science and technology. Then, Morocco’s status with regard to the aspect at hand is assessed. This year, the discussion focused on energy. The members take part in the debate and make their contributions.
“This message reaches the government, the media,” says Crestana, stating that the academy’s goal is to help devise public policies. “The job is to impact upon Morocco’s development,” the researcher says. The academy follows a French template, says Crestana, with half-native members and half-foreign ones. Membership positions are permanent, and only the Moroccan king has the power to expel Academy members.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça and Gabriel Pomerancblum
