Brazilian bill wants accessible innovation

The Brazilian bill establishing the National Precision Agriculture Incentive Policy took another step in its processing in the Chamber of Deputies with the approval of the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development last week in Brazil. PL 149/2019 is now being examined by the Commission for the Constitution and Justice and Citizenship (CCJC). The objective of the bill is to achieve greater efficiency in the application of resources and inputs for agricultural production in order to reduce waste, reduce production costs, increase productivity and profitability, and ensure environmental sustainability.

The director of Vertical Agronegócios da Associação Catarinense de Tecnologia (ACATE, in Portuguese) and member of the coordination of the Núcleo de Inovação Tecnológica para Agricultura Familiar (NITA, in Portuguese) project, Clovis Rossi, believes the proposition and current approval of this bill by the CCJC is based on an evolutionary context provided by various studies conducted. "Genetic improvements, both in animals and vegetables, and in controls, have enabled better management of rural activity and show us that innovation has always been present in agribusiness. Today, we are seeing performance indicators that are far superior to those of 20 or 30 years ago, and we are witnessing a new wave of technologies that enable applications never before imagined in the industry. The emergence of mechanisms that encourage and, above all, facilitate the adoption of technology by medium and small producers should raise production indicators to new levels, which definitely contributes to more intelligent, valued and sustainable food production," says Clovis.

For Bernardo de Castro, president of Hexagon's Agriculture division, innovation is the way to increase the competitiveness and profitability of small and medium sized rural producers. "Large companies are already reaping the benefits of agricultural technologies, reducing costs and increasing business profitability. Small businesses also need to optimise processes to bring quality and agility to production," says the executive. As an example, he cites the use of systems capable of ensuring the accuracy of the application of inputs, avoiding waste and failures in spraying. "The use of the variable-rate controller can reduce fertiliser use by up to 25% and increase productivity by more than 10%," says Castro.