Brazilian science in the field: a global reference

At the end of this year, the world’s attention focused on Egypt, where the 27th United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP-27, took place. Faced with the already tangible impact of climate change, leaders from all over the world have gathered to assess the results of current environmental policies and, above all, to discuss goals for the coming decades, essential to the present and future of Planet Earth.

Agriculture had a prominent place in this debate. The challenge of reconciling food security for the planet with a crop that does not contribute to forest destruction, greenhouse gas emissions, excessive water consumption or soil degradation is something that will surely continue to motivate researchers, producers and public managers. The survival of the planet and its 8 billion inhabitants – a mark reached last November – depends in part on our solution to these questions.

Given this, there is a certainty that science is our greatest ally. Technological innovation applied to agriculture, from the digitization of monitoring systems to the implementation of new farming methods, is becoming increasingly crucial to underpinning sustainable agribusiness. This is an area in which Brazilian science plays a global role.

Soil health studies illustrate this well. Brazilian researchers have developed pioneering methods for measuring and monitoring soil erosion in crops using drones. Traditionally, this analysis has only been done by sampling, i.e., a portion of the land that has been fenced off so that the amount of soil lost to weathering can be measured. Drone surveillance works by photogrammetry, with millions of images combined to form a 3D model of a given area. This makes monitoring more accurate.

There are also experiments with more sophisticated sensors attached to drones, making it possible to monitor crops under a dense canopy (since soil cannot be photographed from an aerial perspective), measure irrigation and fertilization levels, or even collect samples without having to expose a team. The traversal of all this data, through artificial intelligence, has given producers greater predictability in weather forecasts and, in turn, in agricultural production.

On a larger scale, we are re-learning what the potential of soil is, and we stop understanding it only as it the support From the crop, but rather as a complex system that can greatly benefit the planet, including reducing the greenhouse effect.

Recent research shows that soil captures three times more carbon than the vegetation cover above it, which is usually more efficient and sustainable than, say, reforested areas. Sound management of soils can revolutionize the way we approach environmental compensation policies, as well as position our country in a prominent position in the market for new carbon credits.

There are many Brazilian scientists working on the issue, promoting advances in areas ranging from integrated agricultural production systems—that is, the harmonious mix of crops, livestock, and native plants on the same property—to the creation of more efficient irrigation techniques, including the use of microorganism substitutes. traditionalists chemical fertilizers Brazilian microbiology has demonstrated that it is possible to replace these inputs with bacteria that perform biological fixation of nutrients in the soil, more efficiently, thus reducing Brazil’s dependence on imports of materials that we do not produce internally in sufficient quantities.

The list of achievements of Brazilian science could go on and on. However, the most important thing is to highlight the importance of investing in research, in strengthening our universities and research centres, in ensuring the technical and financial structure so that our best minds can continue to find innovative solutions to the great environmental dilemmas facing us. the time. , in addition to receiving well-deserved recognition, such as the Bunge Foundation Prize, which has reached its 66th edition this year, the Mariângela Hungary and Mauricio Roberto Cherubin grants, in renewable agriculture and carbon credit, and the Carlos Alexandre Cruciol and Bernardo Candido, in artificial intelligence and water and land use. They are national researchers who show, through their work and studies, that it is possible to produce more and better in Brazil with science, respect for the environment and social inclusion.

May’s COP-27 is a reminder that the future of Brazilian agriculture depends on this unwavering commitment to the transformative power of science.

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They are, respectfully, Attorney, President of the Paulista Academy of Legal Letters and Grantor of BUNGE Foundation Awards; and CEO of FUNDAÇÃO BUNGE