São Paulo – This month, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) is going to participate in a trade fair for the agricultural sector in Morocco. The institution will showcase its technologies at the Salon International de L’agriculture au Maroc (Siam – International Exhibition of Moroccan Agriculture), from April 22nd to 27th, in the city of Meknès, in the Arab country. The information was supplied by Claudio Bragantini, coordinator of Embrapa-Africa, which has an office in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
Embrapa is going to have an institutional participation, and will also display its technologies for semiarid regions. “The weather and soil conditions in Morocco are similar to those of our (Brazilian) semiarid,” says Bragantini. The goal of the research institution is to offer its technologies to the Moroccan private sector, because, according to the coordinator, Embrapa has already developed relations with the public sector in Morocco.
Bragantini, who works out of the Embrapa office in Accra, will travel to Meknès to represent the institution. Embrapa should be part of a Brazilian stand. At the premises, folders are to be distributed, and banners and DVDs will present the work of the company and Brazilian agriculture. Embrapa was created in the 1970s and has conducted agricultural research ever since. The institution played a key role in making Brazil the global leader in tropical agricultural technology.
This is going to be the third edition of the Siam. The Brazilian participation was a request by the minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Miguel Jorge, who received the invitation from the king of Morocco, Mohammed VI, during his trip to the African country early this year.
Embrapa already develops cooperation efforts with Morocco. Bragantini underscores the fact that he has already been to the Arab country at least twice since the opening of the office in Ghana, in 2008. In broad terms, the cooperation involves training and courses, administered by Embrapa professionals, at Moroccan universities. In this case, however, the areas of operation are high technology, such as embryo transfer, genetic improvement and genetic crossbreeding.
Morocco has 14.7% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which totals to US$ 90.4 billion, linked to agriculture. The agricultural sector answers to 44% of the labour force. The country produces barley, wheat, citrus fruit, wine, vegetables, oil and cattle. Last year, the economy of the Arab country grew 5.3%.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
