Rabat – The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) could open a unit in Morocco, an Arab nation in North Africa. The matter was part of the conversations of the president of Embrapa, Celso Moretti (pictured above), during his visit to the country last week, accompanying a mission of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA). The president of Embrapa could return to Morocco next month to continue the negotiations.
According to information disclosed by Moretti to ANBA, Embrapa already has a partnership with Mohamed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco. The institution works with applied research and innovation and cooperates with Embrapa in the area of bio-inputs. Biological inputs are agro-industrial products or processes developed from enzymes, extracts, microorganisms, and other inputs, intended for the biological control of pests and plant growth.
With the opening of the Embrapa unit in Morocco, cooperation could be expanded to other fields. According to Moretti, the mission is the joint development of technology. The idea is for Brazil to help Morocco with food security and for Morocco to help Brazil study phosphorous on the soil. The Mohamed VI Polytechnic University works in this field with the Moroccan phosphate industry OCP, visited by the Brazilian mission last week.
Embrapa currently has two facilities abroad, one in the United States and another in France, and is in talks to open a base in the United Arab Emirates. It is a Brazilian public company linked to the MAPA, with an essential role in developing Brazilian agriculture, generating production and productivity gains over the years since its foundation.
The mission in which the president of Embrapa participated went through Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco and focused on finding alternatives for supplying fertilizers to Brazil. Celso Moretti signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Egypt between Embrapa and the Agricultural Research Center (ARC), providing for cooperation in genetic improvement, animal and plant health, climate change, irrigation, and water management, and exchange of researchers.
Read more on the Brazilian mission to the Arab countries:
- Brazilians ask for smaller tax to sell poultry to Morocco
- Morocco’s OCP to open phosphate plant in Brazil
- Egyptians ask for Brazil’s help to contain food prices
- Egypt: Brazil’s Marcos Montes discussed food security
- Brazil’s Embrapa pens agreement with Egyptian institute
- Egypt supplies 3% of fertilizers imported by Brazil
- Brazilian minister talked fertilizer supply with Egyptians
- Jordan, Brazil seek to boost bilateral trade
- Jordanians seek phosphate joint venture with Brazil
- Jordanian company to increase potash exports to Brazil
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
