São Paulo – The Moroccans are interested in using Brazilian technology in their Mediterranean region crops. This information was disclosed by the coordinator of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) Africa office, Cláudio Bragantini, who participated in the International Agricultural Salon of Morocco (Siam), in Meknès, in the Arab country, one week ago. The coordinator of the Embrapa unit, whose offices are in Accra, the capital of Ghana, found at the meeting the desire of Moroccans to use agriculture in conservation in Brazil. The term includes techniques to obtain lower production cost, with direct plantation.
Direct plantation, in fact, was what most interested the Moroccans, said Bragantini. According to him, the interest was shown by representatives of the University of Meknès and of the National Institute of Agricultural Research of Morocco (Inra), which operates in the same lines as Embrapa. They should visit Brazil to learn more about the application of technology and to receive training in the area, for later development of a greater technology transfer project. The request should be sent by the embassy of Brazil in Rabat to the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC).
Bragantini went to the International Agriculture Salon of Morocco believing that the Moroccans would show interest in Brazilian agricultural technology for the semiarid, as there are areas with these characteristics. According to him, however, Morocco has most of its agriculture concentrated on the Mediterranean, which has a temperate climate, similar to that of southern Brazil. The Arab country produces wheat on the Mediterranean, for example. This is one of the cultures in which Brazil applies direct planting.
In the direct planting system, the foliage of one culture is maintained in the earth for the next, serving as fertilizer and reducing the need for machinery and fertilizers. Direct planting is broadly used in Brazil and its use was mostly propagated in the 1990s. According to the coordinator of Embrapa-Africa, around 80% of the soy cultivated in Brazil, for example, is through direct plantation. The Moroccans should seek financing in partner countries to make possible the transfer of technology.
Apart from Embrapa, the Brazilian stand, organized by the Brazilian Embassy in Rabat, also included the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). According to Bragantini, participation in the salon was also productive institutionally, as many people visited to stand to obtain information about Embrapa operation in Africa. The Brazilian research corporation celebrated its 36th anniversary last week.
*Translated by Mark Ament
