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Santa Catarina wants to expand grain production to supply the meat production sector. The State Government, through the Secretariat of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, will invest R$ 24 million to encourage the cultivation of corn and winter cereals, bringing more competitiveness to agribusiness in Santa Catarina. The measures were announced by governor Carlos Moisés and the secretary of Agriculture Altair Silva, this Tuesday, 16th, during the Mais Milho Forum shown by Canal Rural.
“Santa Catarina’s productive sector is extremely efficient, so much so that 30% of our GDP and 70% of our exports originate from agribusiness. To support production in Santa Catarina, we expanded the Terra Boa Program, which enables the distribution of high-yield corn seeds. Furthermore, we continue to invest in electricity for rural areas and in improving infrastructure to transport production, provide more agility and optimize logistics in our state”, highlights Governor Carlos Moisés.
With the Terra Boa Program, the State Government will support the acquisition of 200 thousand bags of corn seed throughout the state. There will be R$ 23 million in resources to provide seeds of medium to very high genetic value, which generate a higher yield per hectare planted. The intention is to reduce the grain deficit in Santa Catarina, bringing more competitiveness to agribusinesses located in the state and more income for rural producers.
“We are doing everything so that producers have access to technology and can expand corn production and also invest in the production of winter cereals. We need to find solutions to our real difficulties. Our intention is, this year, to increase the production of winter cereals”, highlights the Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, Altair Silva.
Shortage in the corn harvest in Santa Catarina
In Santa Catarina, the prolonged drought and the corn leafhopper contributed to a 20% reduction in the grain harvest. The state expects to harvest 2.2 million tons and import more than five million tons of corn in 2021. With the rise in input prices, livestock farmers in Santa Catarina suffer from the increase in production costs.
The president of the Santa Catarina Poultry Association (Acav), José Antônio Ribas Júnior, explains that corn accounts for 40% of the final cost of poultry production and the grain price leaves the sector at a critical moment. “We have to look for alternatives so that we can overcome this moment. The sector cannot bear all this cost pressure added to the rise in electricity and fuel. The private sector and the public sector have been seeking, together, urgent alternatives so that we can enter into a situation of balance”.
In her speech, vice-governor Daniela Reihner highlighted the great challenges facing the productive sector and also the importance of the State Government's actions to encourage an increase in production. “I closely follow the points raised in the Forum as fundamental to the growth of the animal protein market in Santa Catarina and I understand that the State's infrastructure needs to keep up with the productive capacity of Santa Catarina. Investment in logistics will be decisive in achieving the necessary supply of grains for the animals”, he declared.
The Department of Agriculture also focuses its efforts on finding alternatives to reduce dependence on corn and reduce production costs. The intention is to reinforce support for the planting of wheat, triticale and barley in the state.
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Winter cereal production
Santa Catarina is already developing a Winter Cereal Planting Incentive Project, which aims to expand the area planted with these grains in the state. R$ 1 million will be invested in research in this area, in a partnership between the Santa Catarina State Research and Innovation Support Foundation (Fapesc) and Epagri.
According to the general manager of Empraba Trigo, Osvaldo Vasconcelos Vieira, the southern region of Brazil has the opportunity to open a new agricultural frontier: the winter harvest. “We cultivate only 2.5 million hectares in winter, in an available area of 14 million hectares of land available in Santa Catarina, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul. We have a great opportunity to develop this structure that already exists and which we know of the producer”.
In Santa Catarina, the potential area for the production of wheat, triticale, oats and barley is 600 thousand hectares and, with the Winter Cereal Planting Incentive Project, producers receive a subsidy from the State Government per hectare planted.
“We have a strategic role in motivating the production chain in Santa Catarina. Since 2019, we have been working on drafting a public policy to, together with entities, cooperatives and agribusinesses, establish future contracts with winter cereal producers. And the State Government will provide a subsidy, in the form of insurance, of up to R$ 200 per hectare. Finding alternatives for the supply of grains is the number one priority of the Department of Agriculture”, says Deputy Secretary Ricardo Miotto.
Other actions to supply grains in Santa Catarina
The incentive for the production of winter cereals complements other actions developed by the State Government to increase the supply of inputs. Santa Catarina works to make the Corn Route viable, bringing grain from Paraguay directly to the West, in addition to maintaining contact with the Ministry of Agriculture to expand the stocks of the National Supply Company (Conab). With information from the press office of the State Secretariat for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of Santa Catarina.
By: Arno Baasch | Crops & Market
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