The November issue of the Globo Rural magazine, one of the main Brazilian publication on agribusiness has an article written by the president of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, EMBRAPA, Mr. Mauricio Antônio Lopes. He is the head of the country’s leading agricultural research institution and one of the most respected in the world, and he wrote an analysis on the Brazilian agricultural model and the need to produce food in an environmentally sustainable way. See the full article below.

By Mauricio Lopes, EMBRAPA’s president:

Brazil is the only country in the tropical belt of the globe that was able to conquer the position of agricultural power. Management technologies have transformed poor soils into fertile land. The tropicalization of the crops, with different cycles, allowed to take advantage of lands in all climatic conditions. The sustainable management and practices we develop constitute an arsenal of environmental defense. With their entrepreneurial dynamism, the producers knew how to combine this knowledge and take advantage of market opportunities.

However, the tropical condition has its burdens. Such efficiency in food production is constantly put to the test by all sorts of stresses. With the same strength, which makes the plants sprout, the abundance of sun and humidity welcome and multiply diseases and pests. The new requirements of the Brazilian Forest Code and climate change impose limitations on the expansion of the production area and cost increase.

That’s why the term “sustainable intensification” gains more and more visibility. Producing more intensively and resiliently has become a must for Brazil and it demands technological sophistication that increases the efficient use of environmental resources – especially water, soil and biodiversity – and ensures adequate ecosystem services, such as waste recycling, water replenishment, air improvement, among others.

Brazil draws the attention of the world to the potential of intensifying its agriculture. A large extension of our agricultural areas can be used safely 365 days a year, producing in the same space, grains, animal protein, fiber, bioenergy and, in the near future, renewable biomass chemicals. EMBRAPA, supported by a network of public and private partners, invests in intensification based on low-carbon, “resource-saving” technologies and gains in land productivity, in line with the new Forest Code and the new consumption pattern defined by a society increasingly engaged in environmental causes.

The ABC Plan – “Low-Carbon Emissions Agriculture” is a bold public policy based on the results of Brazilian agricultural research and aligned with the global response to climate change. It aims to expand the recovery of degraded pastures, integrated crop-livestock-forestry (ICLF), no-tillage system (NTS), biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), planted forests and treatment of animal waste.

Extensive research conducted at national level pointed to an area of ICLF systems adoption in Brazil that reaches the expressive mark of 11.5 million hectares, representing an important part of the Brazilian response to mitigation and adaptation to the world’s climate change. This result is part of the tough strategy of tackling climate change by the Brazilian agriculture, which advances in the consolidation of the adaptive capacity of its agricultural systems, backed by the knowledge management and technological innovation, by the strong emphasis on technology transfer through public-private partnerships, and sustained in the vision and entrepreneurship of our farmers, who perceive and respond in time of fast changes in which we live on.

The article is also available in Portuguese at EMBRAPA’s website
https://www.embrapa.br/busca-de-noticias/-/noticia/18530376/artigo—intensificacao-sustentavel-e-realidade-no-agro-brasileiro

The orange production was the segment that created more jobs in 2016, among all agricultural categories in the state of São Paulo. According to the General Registry of Admitted and Laid-Off Workers (CAGED, in Portuguese), the agency linked to the Ministry of Labor and Employment of Brazil, from January to August 2016, the citriculture had 30,709 admissions. This amount also puts the sector among the 20 main job creators of the state.

The citriculture positive impact in creating jobs is due the extensive use of manpower, specially during the harvest. To show what this means, just take a look at January 2016, there was 47,071 workers at the orange groves in the State of São Paulo. Considering that, according to Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, in Portuguese), the orange planted area in the state of São Paulo is of 412,861 hectares, it’s possible to see that the citriculture employs one worker every nine hectares. Just for comparison, the same calculation made with sugar cane shows that the activity creates one job every 80 hectares. Which means, one hectare of orange creates nine more jobs than one hectare of sugar cane.

The impact of orange in job creation is so great that from the 10 municipalities of São Paulo with the higher number of admissions in agriculture, listed by CAGED, seven are considered citrus hub, as it is with the first three places: Bebedouro, Matão and Mogi Guaçu. In these towns, the citriculture participation in creating agricultural jobs is of 24%, 23% and 65%, respectively. In towns like Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, this percentage it’s up to 66%.

The numbers are meaningful, specially when considering the job crisis in Brazil. According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the month of September was the 18^th straight month of closing formal jobs. In other words, in the past year and a half, there was more layoffs than hiring in the Brazilian economy. This way, the citriculture’ profile as a job-creating activity has a significant impact in the towns where it’s present.

The programme comprises income transfer, especially via the “Bolsa Família” programme, social assistance services and frequent follow-up of families involved, acting in conjunction with states, municipalities and the civil society.

According to the regional director of the ILO for Latin America and Caribe, Mr. José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, who visited Brazil last july to know the current actions and results of the plan “Brazil without misery”, “Brazil is a leader in child labour eradication”. In addition, he said he was “Satisfied to see the successes in Brazil, that may be an example to other countries”.

Source: Website of the Brazilian Federal Government

Under Brazilian legislation, inspection of work is the exclusive prerogative of the Ministry of Labour and Employment (article 21, Brazilian Constitution), through its workplace inspection secretariats and the regional labour inspection superintendents’ offices.

The Ministry covers the entire territory of Brazil, and all kinds of establishments and properties are encompassed, be they public or private, professional or not-for-profit; this includes foreign ships in Brazilian waters.

Provided they produce the right credentials, labour inspectors may freely enter any place that is subject to inspection at any time of day, and without warning. During such a visit they will typically check compliance with legislation and regulations governing working conditions and labour rights.

Employers in breach of the laws or proving negligent in their application of the law are warned and are subject to sanctions, repeat inspections, fines, prosecution and in extreme cases their operations may be halted.

Since the government has only a limited number of labour inspectors, criteria are used in order to define inspections. Abuses denounced by trade unions, civil society organizations, or workers, for example, are given priority. The MPT website provides another way of making anonymous accusations.

When an establishment is inspected, the officials may ask to see documentation about previous periods, not only concerning the moment of the inspection; employers must therefore make sure all workers are currently registered, and wages and taxes properly paid up, in addition to carrying out procedures laid down in the law, such as medical examinations on hiring and dismissal, and possessing correct safety certificates.

In addition to routine inspections, the Ministry also carries out campaigns on specific issues such as correct registration of workers, and the eradication of child labour.

The ILO has acknowledged Brazil’s labour inspection work to be an example to be followed, in its document entitled “Good practices of labour inspection in Brazil”, the highlight of which is the country’s experience in eradicating child labour and forced labour.

The Federal Government recently announced a package to boost the inspection of informal labour, increasing fines, training more than 1,500 new inspectors, and enhancing electronic monitoring.