Brazilian scientists turning nation into an agro-power

[ChangoLoa]

CRISTALINA, BRAZIL - Barely two generations ago, the gently rolling hills here in Brazil's heartland were a knot of short, brittle trees and acidic soil considered unfit for agriculture. But on a recent morning, a New Holland harvester cut through golden husks of wheat on Paulo Kramer's farm.

Wheat, of course, is a temperate crop that flourishes in places like Kansas and South Dakota. But here in Brazil's Cerrado, a wide savannah that covers nearly a quarter of the country, wheat varieties created especially for tropical climates and nutrient-poor soil bloom alongside corn, soybeans and cotton.

Once seen as a wasteland, the Cerrado is now the motor of an agro-industry so potent that Brazil threatens to surpass the United States as breadbasket to the world. The answer to how that transformation happened can be found at a government-run agricultural research center, called Embrapa, where scientists make Brazil's poor soils fertile while developing crop varieties that will thrive here, such as wheat.

"When we started to plant in the Cerrado, I could never have imagined we'd be planting wheat," said Kramer, 50, who came here from southern Brazil in the 1980s and has 1,700 acres of farmland. "Wheat was for cold climates."

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/16/AR2010101604144.html?wprss=rss_world

[Meshuga]

1. Embrapa has done a wonderful job

And Brazil seems to be willing to share the approach with poor nations to help their production.

[ChangoLoa]

2. It's incredibly important

For most South American countries, the imitation of the wheat countries' diet is an important factor of dependence and limited sovereignty. If we can grow wheat in our lands, it's a very old chain we're breaking. Enhorabuena!