Shuttle: Agricultural research increasingly declines in government budgets

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Recently, the Honduran Minister of Agriculture said he wanted an Embrapa in the country. If that happened, according to him, everything would be different.

The Embrapa imagined by the minister, based on the good research already carried out, may not be so attractive in the future if the governments do not change their view on the need for investments in agriculture.

At election time, these proposals should be part of the presidential candidates’ goals, since it is about food security.

Jair Bolsonaro doesn’t get tired of seeking the laurels of Embrapa’s achievements.

At this moment, the president’s attention is focused on the advance of wheat in the cerrado and the possibility that the country will be self-sufficient in cereal in a few years.

It so happens that this is an improvement program that has been going on for at least ten years, at a time when Embrapa’s investments in research and innovation were close to R$ 1 billion per year.

These values ​​have been constantly falling, and for this year, the current government proposed R$ 171.1 million for the research and innovation program, 56% less, in real terms, than when it took office. The amounts destined only for investments in research fell to R$ 19.7 million, 29% less in the period.

Faced with such low values, Congress can propose amendments to increase these expenses. For this year, the budget was raised to R$ 235.7 million. This does not mean, however, that this money will actually go to the company.

The SOF (Secretariat of the Federal Budget), linked to the Ministry of Economy and which defines the amounts, may veto the money proposed by Congress or not release it, since some parliamentary amendments are not mandatory to transfer by law.

In 2017, the Executive proposed an amount corresponding to 10% of the entire budget allocated to Embrapa to be used in agricultural research and innovation. This year, it’s only 5%.

The company’s total budget includes expenses with salaries, other charges and payments of court judgments, which are mandatory by the government.

Based on the expenditure ceiling determined by the Executive, Embrapa decides how much money will be spent on funding (electricity, materials for day-to-day use and provision of services for analysis) and how much in investments (laboratory equipment, machines and others) .

Data for 2021, as published in Siop (Integrated Planning and Budget System), indicate that the government made a proposal of BRL 153.1 million in the total value of Embrapa’s research and innovation program. The Congress, via amendments, increased the amount to R$ 361.6 million. The government vetoed this amount determined by Congress, and the total execution of these amounts was R$ 248.3 million, according to consolidated data from Siop.

Parliamentarian amendments are important, but many are aimed at local and specific projects. In this case, resources cannot be moved to other units. Some are having difficulty closing the accounts this year.

With the reduction in the volume of investments, and due to inflationary corrosion, the money is increasingly going towards funding, to the detriment of investments.

Embrapa technicians calculate that the minimum amount to finance the company’s structure, research projects and technology transfer activities would be R$ 320 million, 87% more than what was proposed by the government this year.

At a time when the eyes of the world are focused on an expansion of the food supply, and there is competition for new technologies, Brazil may be left behind.

All the main federal, state and university research centers —important in the development of Brazilian agriculture— are being scrapped.

The reduction in the training program and the breakdown of infrastructure lead to a reduction in new projects that are important for Brazil, since the country has continental dimensions and each region has its specific needs.

This disregard for research funding also causes a loss of competitiveness of companies, such as Embrapa, in the face of international competitors.

The result is a loss of competitiveness of Brazilian agriculture in the international scenario. The cost of not investing is high, and the bill will come in the next five to ten years, the time for research projects to mature.

The country runs the risk of being at the mercy of external technologies, paying royalties and not always obtaining the most adapted solutions for the different productive regions.

The dismantling of agricultural research institutes and Embrapa means that the budget is practically devoted to spending on programs that are already underway, with no possibility of creating new ones.

In a period of climate crisis, when products with greater resistance to water stress, better quality and more sustainability are sought, the country runs the risk of depending on foreign technologies.

The advantage of national institutions is visible because they focus not only on large crops, such as soybeans, corn and cotton, but also beans, rice, vegetables and food enrichment, such as Embrapa’s manioc program with beta-carotene.

The cost of not investing will be high, mainly because Asian countries, such as China and South Korea, are heavily investing in the agricultural sector.

These countries can continue to import food, but they will supply the technology, leaving a positive balance between technology and food.

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