Brasília, July 10, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Colombia and Brazil can and should expand their exchange programs in the area of agricultural technology, since some regions in the two countries possess similarities, research funds are scarce, and the two countries share common problems in livestock-raising. This question was discussed by the Colombian researchers, Jaime Triana and Jorge Medrano, during a visit to the Embrapa Livestock Center of the Southeast (São Carlos-SP), a unit belonging to the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (Embrapa), linked to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply.
The Colombians want to adopt techniques, management methods, and agricultural processes they saw in São Carlos to improve production and productivity in beef and dairy cattle ranching in Colombia and to diminish the degradation of grazing lands. Triana, who works for Corpoica - the Colombian Agricultural Research Corporation - and is an ex-president of the institution, said that the exchanges should be treated as a business relationship, without paternalism, in the context of bilateral relations. He also observed that the scarcity of financial resources in the two countries is one more motive to join forces on behalf of agricultural productivity and competitiveness. He declared that he is in favor of closer relations between the two countries, as well as between the Mercosur and the Andean Pact (formed by Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia).
For his part, the current director of Corpoica, Jorge Medrano, explained that Colombia, despite its low indexes of productivity in cattle-raising, makes sporadic beef exports to Venezuela, Peru, Paraguay, and the Caribbean countries, but also imports beef from the United States. Colombia continues to suffer from the incidence of hoof and mouth disease, but, according to Medrano, it should shortly be officially declared a disease-free zone by the OIE (International Epizooty Organization), based in Paris. Colombia wants to make better use of its "llanos" - plains similar to Brazil's savannah - to increase domestic supply and reduce imports. With respect to milk production, Medrano informed that powdered milk is imported from Australia, New Zealand, and the European Union, but a small amount is exported to Venezuela.
Another proposal broached by the Venezuelan experts is to translate into Spanish Embrapa's thousands of publications to distribute in tropical areas of Latin America. In return, Brazil can receive the benefit of the techniques and advanced processes that Colombia possesses in the areas of African oil palm, coffee, flowers, biological control, and family farming. According to Jaime Triana, research for family and commercial farming is similar, but the differences and biggest difficulties lie in technology transfer and rural extension. (DAS)
