![\"\"](\"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/cesar-miranda-foto.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cMato Grosso agribusiness has become more and more professional over the years, gaining productivity, doing a sustainable agriculture, and of course managing more competitive prices, breaking into all Asia and every Arab country as a whole,\u201d the secretary of Economic Development of the State of Mato Grosso, C\u00e9sar Miranda, told ANBA.<\/p>\n
The secretary doesn\u2019t refer to the local farmers as rural producers anymore but as \u201crural businesspeople.\u201d Miranda mentions the professionalization example of the beef cattle sector, which has managed to slaughter the animal at a shorter age, as well as soy and corn cultures, which has a season per year each in the state. Mato Grosso corn has Brazil\u2019s fifth largest productivity at 6,300 kilos per hectare, as per figures by National Supply Company (CONAB).<\/p>\n
In fact, year-to-date through September, corn was the product that Mato Grosso has sold the most to the Arab market. It accounted for more than a half of the revenue from exports at USD 522 million. In 2010, the state earned USD 141 million from it. Soy was Mato Grosso\u2019s third most sold product to the Arabs, from USD 9 million in 2010 to USD 107.4 million year-to-date through September.<\/p>\n Association of Soy and Corn Producers in Mato Grosso (Aprosoja<\/a>) president Ant\u00f4nio Galvan says the bulky sales to the Arabs result\u00a0 from the high quality of the products grown there. According to him, the local soy has a high protein content, and their corn has a high quality since it doesn\u2019t rain much at the end of the crop and it\u2019s harvested in the dry season. \u201cSo, it\u2019s less likely to deteriorate, and the international market highly demands this corn for that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The state plants soy in October-November and corn in January-February. Both cultures usually take turns in part of Mato Grosso crops. \u201cFew are the regions in the world where you have this option to produce both,\u201d Galvan said. Corn accounts for just half of the area of soy in the state, tough.<\/p>\n The second product that Mato Grosso exports the most to Arab is frozen beef. Fresh and refrigerated beef are the sixth product on the list. Year-to-date through September, the state grossed USD 194 million from frozen beef sales to the Arab market from USD 107 million in 2010. Fresh and refrigerated beef grossed USD 45 million from this year\u2019s sales and USD 6 million nine years ago.<\/p>\n Mato Grosso Breeders Association (Acrimat<\/a>) technical director Francisco Manzi said that the reasons why beef sales to the Arabs climbed includes the fact that the state has established itself in halal slaughter, proper for Muslim countries\u2019 consumption. Moreover, he points out that Mato Grosso has Brazil\u2019s largest herd at 30 million heads of cattle out of the 200 million in Brazil.<\/p>\n As Miranda, Manzi also mentions the reduction in the age of cattle slaughter as a factor for the increased exports. \u201cThe age at slaughter has steeply decreased, and this is directly linked to its softness, and the quality of our meat,\u201d he believes. Mato Grosso has 22 cattle slaughterhouses qualified to exports, and productivity is growing, the technical director said.<\/p>\n Secretary Miranda says that Mato Grosso Meat Institute (IMAC<\/a>) is finishing up a digital system for cattle slaughterhouses. This system will digitally control the cattle weighing and allow the breeders to accompany the animal slaughter from their cellphone, and other innovations. IMAC is part of the Secretariat of Economic Development of the State of Mato Grosso.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a management and governance system made by the breeder and the industry. IMAC will first certify if that meat purchased by the importer was sustainably produced, without slave labor, certifying the origin from the farm to the slaughter. It\u2019ll give a guarantee of quality and origin to the meat from Mato Grosso,\u201d explained Miranda.<\/p>\n Secretary C\u00e9sar Miranda was in the UAE earlier this year, where he participated in meetings at the International Office of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in Dubai. He\u2019s still in touch with the Chamber, discussing a possible mission to the UAE and maybe other Arab countries next year featuring governor Mauro Mendes (Democratas) and a corporate delegation. The goal is to search the market, but alto attract investment, especially for local industry and infrastructure.<\/p>\n Galvan and Manzi believe in the importance of the work by the public sector for trade. \u201cThe president (Jair Bolsonaro)\u2019s visit will most certainly increase it even more,\u201d said Aprosoja president on the future of exports from Mato Grosso to the Arab countries. Bolsonaro visited the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia last October. \u201cBut it\u2019s the quality of our product that will certainly increase even more the demand for it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mazi points out that work by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply in searching out foreign markets for Brazilian agribusiness. \u201cBesides the work by the minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, there\u2019s a prospection by the Ministry of Agriculture going on that has done a great job in searching for new markets since Brazil is a large producer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Mato Grosso is Brazil\u2019s largest grain producer, as well as the largest producer of soy, cotton and corn. The state also has the largest herd of cattle. Besides the products mentioned, Mato Grosso also sells the Arab countries products such as other meats and offal, vegetables, eggs, cotton, nuts and seeds, animal fat, and others.<\/p>\n Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>