SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2010 AGRICULTURE
Brazilian scientists turning nation into an agro-power Once seen as a wasteland, the Cerrado is so potent that the country threatens to surpass the U.S. as breadbasket to the world
BY JUAN FORERO
cristalina, brazil — Barely two generations ago, the gently rolling hills here inBrazil’s heart- land were a knot of short, brittle trees and acidic soil considered unfit for agriculture. But on a recent morning, a New Holland harvester cut through golden husks of wheat on Paulo Kram- er’s farm. Wheat, of course, is a temper-
ate crop that flourishes in places like Kansas and South Dakota. But here in Brazil’s Cerrado, a wide savanna that covers nearly a quarter of the country, wheat varieties created especially for tropical climates and nutrient- poor soil bloom alongside corn, soybeans and cotton. Once seen as a wasteland, the
Cerrado is now the motor of an agro-industry so potent that Bra- zil threatens to surpass the Unit- ed States as breadbasket to the world. The answer to how that transformation happened can be found at a government-run agri- cultural research center, called Embrapa, where scientists make Brazil’s poor soils fertile while developing crop varieties that will thrive here, includingwheat. “When we started to plant in
the Cerrado, I could never have imagined we’d be planting wheat,” said Kramer, 50, who came here from southern Brazil in the 1980s and has 1,700 acres of farmland. “Wheat was for cold climates.” As Brazil prepares to elect a
successor to President Luiz Ina- cio Lula da Silva on Oct. 31, the Latin American giant is widely considered an economic success story among emerging markets. Some analysts say its economy could become the fifth-largest by 2016, when the Olympic Games are staged in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s increasingly diverse in- dustry also produces automo- biles, refrigerators, fighter planes and deep-sea oil platforms. Brazil, however, is perhaps
best known as a dominant power in the exportation of foodstuffs, from meat to poultry, orange juice to coffee. Other rising gi-
JUAN FORERO/THE WASHINGTON POST
“Whenwe started to plant in the Cerrado, I could never have imagined we’d be planting wheat,”said Paulo Kramer, who came to the arid savanna in the 1980s. “Wheat was for cold climates.”
Cerrado region 0 VENEZUELA COLO. BRAZIL PERU BOLIVIA CHILE
Pacific Ocean
PAR. ARGEN.
Rio de Janeiro
MILES
Atlantic Ocean
Brasilia Equator 750
phosphorus and other nutrients. In 1973, whipsawed by oil
shocks and facing the challenges of feeding the country’s burgeon- ing population, the military dic- tatorship then ruling Brazil founded Embrapa. A collection of laboratories went up in the Cerrado, in tiny Planaltina out- side of Brasilia. Embrapa administrators knew
their endeavor would not be fulfilled overnight, so they start- ed by sending 1,200 young scien- tists to the best American and European universities for their master’s degrees and doctorates. By the 1980s,with hundreds of
American-trained Brazilian sci- entists at work at Embrapa, the Cerrado began its transforma- tion, and Brazil went from ex- porting coffee, cacao and sugar to developing dozens of major products for export. Lured by cheap land and government credit, thousands of farmers be- gan migrating from southern Brazil into the Cerrado, which now accounts for two-thirds of Brazil’s agricultural output. “This is a country that only 40
years ago had problems feeding the population,” said Francisco Souza, a Mississippi State-edu- cated tropical seed expert and head of Embrapa’s international wing. He recalled how meat was imported from Argentina, beans from Mexico, rice from the Phil- ippines. “How can you go, in 30 years,
LARIS KARKLIS/THE WASHINGTON POST
bique to improve production. “What’s happened there is the
PEDRO VILELA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES
Brazil’s President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, shown with presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff during an election rally Saturday, directed Embrapa to send scientists to other countries to improve production.
ants,most notably China, cannot get enough of Brazil’s soybeans and beef, two signature exports. And poorer countries struggling to produce food, such as Venezu- ela and several African countries, want to emulate its success. That has made the Brasilia headquarters of Embrapa, which
stands for the Brazilian Agricul- turalResearchCorp., an essential stop for foreign agriculture min- isters and dignitaries curious about howBrazilmade theCerra- do green. In turn, under a direc- tive from Lula, Embrapa is sending its scientists as near as Venezuela and as far as Mozam-
equivalent of the Green Revolu- tion,” said Andrew Colin Mc- Clung, an American whose work in the Cerrado in the late 1950s helped set the stage for Embra- pa’s innovations years later. “It’s hard not to overemphasize their importance.” In the years since American
farming went into overdrive, set- ting an example to be replicated worldwide, McClung and two Brazilian scientists would deter- mine that the Cerrado could be made green by adding lime,
from importing all the food to becoming the first- or second- or, at least, the third-largest export- er?” he asked. “The main driving force has been the technology.” Among thosewho havemade a
career developing that technolo- gy is Thomaz A. Rein, a soil scientist educated at CornellUni- versity who started at Embrapa in 1984. In a tour of Embrapa’s test fields in Planaltina, he talked excitedly of a new phosphorus fertilizer for sugar cane and a nitrogen fertilization experiment with corn. “We see here the big differ-
ence,” Rein said, standing beside another test field, this one plant- ed with wheat. “The wheat fertil- izedwith sulfur are taller, andwe
will have good yield.” In the Planaltina labs, scien-
tists have also developed dozens of varieties of soybeans, corn, cotton and other crops while finding methods to contain plagues. Bovine experts have beenworking on howto fatten up cattle and hogs faster and more efficiently while improving the quality of the meat. Such work can be found at 45 Embrapa labs nationwide, each of which is entrusted with improving the crops common to Brazil’s far- flung regions, like the palm oil produced in the Amazon. Improving Brazilian agricul-
ture is vital, said Embrapa offi- cials, because agribusiness ac- counts for a quarter of GDP and 40 percent of exports. But there is potential for more, because only a fraction of the land Brazil could farmis being cultivated. Pedro Antonio Arraes, who is
president of Embrapa and re- ceived his doctorate in genetics and plant breeding from the University of Wisconsin, said Embrapa’s role is to improve production per acre so Brazil uses its land efficiently. During an interview, he announced that he would hire an additional 400 researchers by year’s end, part of a sustained buildup that saw the budget rise 29 percent last year. “We are in research and devel-
opment. We have to produce papers, but that’s not our main objective,” he said. “What’s im- portant is, you have to provide innovation. You have to provide competitiveness for agro-busi- ness.” On Kramer’s farm here in
Cristalina, the competitive ad- vantage came through two new wheat varieties, dubbed BRS 254 and BRS 264. Kramer says the roots of these sturdy varieties dig deep into the soil. They have also proven resistant to disease, he said, and are so productive that he can plant and harvest faster than an American wheat farmer. “Embrapa advises producers on the varieties to plant,” Kramer said. “They give us the right guidance inplanting sowe donot makemistakes.”
foreroj@washpost.com
KLMNO
EZ SU
From Page One A17
“YOURBANK CHANGING NAMES? COMEVISIT NAVY FEDERAL, WHERE WE PROMISETOALWAYSREMEMBER YOURS.”
JEANETTE, NAVY FEDERAL TEAMMEMBER
MAKE THESWITCH TO NAVY FEDERALTODAY! VISITONE OF OURMETRO AREA BRANCHES
Washington,DC
Washington Navy Yard 9th &MStreets,SE Bldg. 218, Ground Floor
Virginia
Alexandria MountVernon Plaza Shopping Ctr. 7678-D Richmond Hwy.
Annandale Annandale Shopping Ctr. 7012 Columbia Pike
Arlington Navy Annex ColumbiaPike Federal Building 2 Basement Floor Room G050
Ballston One Liberty Ctr. 875-A N. RandolphSt.
Crystal City 2450 Crystal Dr. Mall Level, Suite 125
Pentagon Room 2D152 Pentagon (Located in the Concourse next to Best Buy®
)
Ashburn Cameron Chase Village Ctr. 44315 Ice Rink Plaza
Burke BurkeTown Ctr. 6025-H Burke Ctr.Pkwy.
Centreville Fort Hill Office Building 5900 Fort Dr. Suite 110
DaleCity Ashdale Plaza 2898 Dale Blvd.
Fairfax Jermantown Square 11180 Lee Hwy.
Fredericksburg Central Park Shopping Ctr. 1767 Carl D. Silver Pkwy.
Manassas Parkridge Ctr. 10980 Bulloch Dr.
Reston Spectrum Ctr. 1821 Fountain Dr.
Springfield Springfield Corporate Ctr. 6225 BrandonAve. Suite 130
Stafford Doc Stone Commons Shopping Ctr. 308WorthAve., Suite 105
Quantico Corporate Ctr. 100 Corporate Dr.
Vienna 820 Follin Ln.
Winchester AppleValley Marketplace 828Berryville Ave.
Maryland
Accokeek ManokeekVillage Ctr. 7001 Berry Rd.
Annapolis AnnapolisMall 170Jennifer Rd. Suite 150
NavalAcademy 101 WilsonRd. BancroftHall,3rd Wing
Naval StationAnnapolis 321Kinkaid Rd. NEXComplex, Bldg. 329
Bethesda National Naval Medical Ctr. 8901Wisconsin Ave. Main Street Mall,Bldg. 2
Capitol Heights 9201 Alaking Ct.
Clinton Woodyard Crossing ShoppingCtr. 8825 Branch Ave.
Germantown Middlebrook Square Shopping Ctr. 11528 Middlebrook Rd.
Indian Head NavalSurface Warfare Ctr. South Potomac 4124 W. Patton Rd. Suite 101
Laurel Laurel LakesCtr. 14260B Baltimore Ave.
Lexington Park Patuxent Corporate Ctr. 46241 CorporateWay
Odenton Seven Oaks Shopping Ctr. 2288 BlueWater Blvd. Suite 490
Rockville Towne Plaza Shopping Ctr. 12244 Rockville Pike
Suitland NationalMaritime Office of Naval Intelligence 4251 SuitlandRd. Room 2N100
navyfederal.org • 1-888-842-6328
ARMY, MARINE CORPS, NAVY,AIR FORCE,DoD—YOUARE ELIGIBLE! Federally insured by NCUA.© 2010 Navy Federal NFCU10554-C9(10-10)
o A
R m az n
.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188