Agro: UFMT wants more productivity with sustainability – 09/03/2023 – Market

In search of a quantitative increase in rural production, but with sustainability, professors and researchers from UFMT (Federal University of Mato Grosso) are putting into practice a program that uses computational modeling and sensing in state properties to help the producer in decision making .

Daniel Carneiro Abreu, at the head of this program called AgriSciences, which began in 2016, inspired by North American universities, says that all research and technology aimed at the field must have, in the first place, economic viability.

Science can generate this evolution, in addition to providing means for sustainable production and with international recognition of the Brazilian product.

UFMT researchers seek to develop demonstrative units in the field that are multipliers, engage the community and exchange leaders. The objective is the search for efficient and resilient solutions and proposals for mitigating greenhouse gases.

One of the projects, in Juara, northwest of Mato Grosso, monitors the production of soy, corn, forage, eucalyptus and sugarcane. Lucas do Rio Verde, in the middle north of the state, is focused on the production of soy, corn, fodder, eucalyptus, sorghum and native species.

Abreu says that computational modeling consists of applying mathematical models allied to science. It allows an assessment, simulation, analysis, understanding and study of ecosystems and agroecosystems.

Among the various functions, studies can indicate the best management for soil correction or the species most adapted to the environment being studied.

The researchers are also able to assess phenomena and interactions that may present a complex magnitude in different areas of knowledge, such as agriculture, physics, chemistry, biology, among others.
The mathematical model is a set of equations that represent the behavior of a system, such as the agrosystem, or the mathematical representations of mechanisms that react to natural phenomena.

“With modeling, it is possible to integrate all areas of agricultural science, such as soil science, phytotechnics, forestry, agricultural mechanization, animal production and agrometeorology”, says Abreu.
The UFMT program focuses a lot on soil management and fertility, direct planting and integration of crops, livestock and forestry.

The researches, in addition to partnerships with foreign universities and agencies linked to agriculture and livestock, have the economic support of philanthropic banks, international resources, entities focused on the sector, such as Empaer-MT (Empresa Mato-Grossense de Pesquisa, Assistência e Extension Rural) , Senar-MT (National Service for Rural Learning), Famato (Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of the State of MT), Aliança-Sipa (Integrated Agricultural Production Systems) and the producers themselves, such as Santa Sofia and Bragança farms.

Abreu says he wants to build an organic and cohesive relationship with the countryside. The partnership with universities in the United States, such as Minnesota, Ohio, Maine, Texas, and Scotland, such as Edinburgh, increases the knowledge potential.

Otávio Celidonio, executive director of AgriHub, which is part of Famato, says that it is essential for university researchers to get involved with the field. Thus, they know the problems and develop specific research that will bring efficient answers, even if in the long term. For Abreu, innovation should also aim at added value. Soy, for example, generates wealth, but it will have a limit. If industrialization does not come, we will be stagnant, he says.