June 18, 2012 | seedstock

News Release – RIO DE JANEIRO, June 18, 2012 – Creating an index of sustainable development, enabling the opening of markets to countries that adopt correct environmental practices, and an international fund for the financing and dissemination of technology to contribute to agricultural development and livestock with respect to the environment are two of the proposals of the agricultural sector for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio +20. “Brazil, which produces inexpensive, high quality food while using only up to 27.7% of its territory, has the moral authority at Rio +20 to argue for new proposals which would ensure sustainable growth of the world output,” says the president of the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA), Senator Katia Abreu.

On Monday (18/06), in Space AgroBrasil, at Pier Maua, Senator Katia Abreu will speak on the details of the position paper which was consolidated in March and April of this year by the Confederation with the participation of rural leaders, technicians, producers, universities and agribusiness and directed at Rio +20.

The president of CNA explains that, from the creation of the global index of development, countries that produce sustainably can obtain more adequate remuneration for the management and marketing of their products, therefore being rewarded for the environmental services generated. “The idea is to give economic viability to the process by getting more farmers involved,” she says. The eradication of poverty is a central theme of Rio +20, and depends on, in the case of Brazil’s rural areas, policies that guarantee access to technology, seeds, credit, training and extension, especially among the poorer classes. “Increasing class C in the field will help produce more food and eradicate poverty,” said Senator Katia Abreu.

Technology and innovation, green economy, decent work and the environment are the themes that guide the document presented Monday by CNA at Rio +20. All these topics have, as their base, the commitment by farmers to increase food supply and to protect the environment, which for Brazil is in 61% of all biomes. By going into detail on the document prepared by the agricultural sector, Senator Katia Abreu points out that the expansion of Brazilian agriculture does not depend exclusively on the opening of new areas and that, in addition to native vegetation on private property, Brazil has, as a differential, an extensive area of pastureland – 158.7 million hectares – as well as degraded areas that can be retrieved. “Using technology and reclamation, Brazil can release up to 70 million hectares in the coming years, to produce about 400 million tons of grains and fiber,” she says.

For the president of CNA, the preservation of water resources is also a priority in the talks at Rio +20. For this, she advocates the creation of a global concept of Permanent Preservation Areas (PPAs) on the banks of rivers, a proposal which has been submitted by CNA, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (EMBRAPA) and the National Water Agency (ANA) in international forums and will be the subject of debate at Space AgroBrasil. In this sense, the organization proposes that governments implement actions for urban sanitation in order to avoid pollution of water resources, thus ensuring the quality of water consumption and food production.

SOURCE Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA)