Research key to food output expansion, conference told

Carefully planned food output expansion can be achieved with minimal environmental impact, according to beef sector leaders from the US and Brazil, a country which has quadrupled its beef exports in the past 10 years.

Addressing yesterday’s Agricultural Science Association annual conference in Druids Glen, Co Wicklow, Mauricio Lopes, executive director of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, outlined Brazil’s rise in agri-food exports, from €19bn in 2001 to €76bn in 2011.

Dr Lopes outlined how a strong focus on research and development has resulted in yield increases of 60% to 200% in recent decades. Brazilian agricultural output reached almost €400bn last year, of which 20% was exported to 180 markets worldwide.

He said further increases of up to 30% in beef, soya beans, and poultry output are targeted by 2020 leading to greater penetration of Brazil in world food exports. He also stressed Brazil is focused on sustainable expansion, with emphasis on low carbon emissions through integrated crop–livestock-forest production systems.

Over 30m hectares of crops are now grown on a no-till system, alleviating soil compaction and erosion problems.

Less than four decades ago, Brazil was a poorly developed agricultural producer concentrating on coffee and sugar. It is now the world’s largest exporter of beef, soya beans, poultry, and sugar and will shortly become the world’s biggest exporter of ethanol and biodiesel.

Dr Lopes said Brazil is also to the forefront in renewable energy. Almost 50% of the country’s energy now comes from renewable sources, compared to an average of less than 20% worldwide.

He said the expansion of Brazilian agriculture has been driven by strong investment in science and technology. The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation employs over 2,000 scientists in more than 40 research centres. The country has 70 agricultural universities and 100 agricultural technical high schools.

Meanwhile, Thad Lively from the US Meat Export Federation in Denver highlighted the stark contrasts in beef production and consumption trends between the western countries and the rest of the world.

Mr Lively said beef production in Brazil and Africa is forecast to increase by 60% and 44% respectively between 2000 and 2015. In contrast, production in the US is projected to drop by 8% and by 4% in the EU.