Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Brazil has traditionally relied on its own public sector scientific insti-
tutions and government officials, rather than domestic or international
private corporations, to develop and extend productive new agricultural
technologies. Envisioning the potential of biotechnology, the govern-
ment of Brazil has made consistent investments in agricultural biotech-
nology since the 1980s.
The mission of the Brazilian Public Agricultural Research Corpora-
tion (EMBRAPA) is to provide feasible solutions for the sustainable
development of Brazilian agribusiness through knowledge and technol-
ogy generation and transference. EMBRAPA develops special programs
and projects concerning areas such as food safety, family agriculture, nat-
ural resources, advanced technology, and agribusiness, and acts as a part-
ner in several other enterprises.
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Significant results in the area of GM crop development have been
achieved with public investments. Scientists at the EMBRAPA Labo-
ratory of Genetic Resource and Biotechnology (CENARGEN) have
developed and patented their own system for crop transformation (appli-
cable to more than one species of crop) and have field tested their
own versions of herbicide-resistant soybean, and virus-resistant potatoes.
Further progress toward commercialization of these transgenic varieties
may be slow, however, as it must await the negotiation of commer-
cial license agreements with international companies holding relevant
transgenic patents, and approvals on biosafety grounds by the National
Biosafety Technical Commission (CTNBio).
EMBRAPA's expenditures for research activities have been large
for a developing country. A significant amount of EMBRAPA's budget
was directed to biotechnology through CENARGEN. For most projects,
EMBRAPA's contribution tends to be roughly matched by treasury
resources from the National Council of Technological and Scientific
Development (CNPq), a funding agency in the Department of Science
Valdes, Marilene Silva de Oliveira, Pedro Rangel Bogado, Getulio Vargas Founda-
tion, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2006.
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See http://www.embrapa.gov.br/a embrapa/index html/mostra documento.
