São Paulo – The Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), a teaching institution from Rio Grande do Sul, is developing a project for cooperation with Algeria, an Arab nation in North Africa, in the area of food. The initiative is aimed at helping the country guarantee food safety, as, despite being rich in oil and gas, most of its territory is occupied by the Sahara desert. In its second phase, early this year, experimental crops were planted in Rio Grande do Sul and Algeria.
According to the coordinator of the Family Farming Nucleus (Nesaf) at UFSM, Danilo Rheinheimer dos Santos, who is heading the project at the Brazilian university, the cooperation forecasts operation in three fronts. One is dissemination of technologies for better preparation of soil in Algeria, starting with the making available of nutrients from microorganisms developed in laboratory. Another area is the use of systems for micro-irrigation for production of food, making maximum use of water.
The third area is soil coverage. Rio Grande do Sul is teaching the Algerians to work on direct cultivation, a system in which the material remaining from the previous culture is left in the soil for the seeding of the next crop. According to Rheinheimer, ploughing the land causes sterilisation of the soil and greater loss of water, due to excessive soil temperature and evaporation. The objective, however, is to adapt these techniques to the Arab world. In experimental areas, in Algeria and Rio Grande do Sul, the ideas are being tested, according to the coordinator.
The project started being implemented three years ago, after the government of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva started providing incentives to cooperation with Africa. Within project “Pró-África”, of the federal government, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) issued a call for cooperation with the region. First UFSM won the call for exploratory visits, which included trips from Brazil to Algeria and vice-versa, in which possibilities and needs for cooperation were discussed and defined.
Through another call, UFSM was selected to effectively develop the scientific cooperation, which started taking place this year. In both phases, the university worked with Algeria and also with Mozambique. In the Arab country, the UFSM interlocutor is Mostaganem University. In Brazil, the university from Rio Grande do Sul has partnerships for cooperation with the Santa Catarina State University and with Passo Fundo University. Apart from the visit of Algerian and Brazilian researchers, there should also be exchange of students.
Rheinheimer was recently in Mozambique and should travel to Algeria in November. Apart from a scholar, he is also the CEO of the State Foundation for Agricultural Research (Fepagro), connected to the government of the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
*Translated by Mark Ament
