Lubango - Brazilian experts in soil and plant correction admitted that Angola has the potential to become a breadbasket of global agricultural production, but needs to embrace new techniques for land treatment and grain production.
The statement was made by Brazilian experts working on the construction of soil profiles, fertility and plant nutrition in Huíla Province, with a view to ensuring the effectiveness of producers and uses of fertilizers to improve wheat, rice, beans and corn.
One of them is the agronomist and phytotechnics specialist, Rodrigo Botelho, who admits that Angolan agriculture still produces little, when the need for food is greater every year, due to population growth.
To him, Angola could be the breadbasket of agricultural production in the world, given that the countries that currently have it are limited and have little room for growth, a situation made worse by environmental pressure.
“Angola has a vast area available, good soils, abundant water and in a few years, with adequate investment, it could be the next agricultural frontier in the world, with large-scale production, which will generate local income and surplus for export”, he reinforced.
The researcher on organic plants at the University of Arkansas, in the United States of America, highlighted that when focusing on grain production, farming also grows, as the costs of vegetable proteins (feed) decrease.
He reiterated that it is enough to produce and believe that with the correct techniques the harvest grows, but it is necessary to look at this potential and undertake to achieve success in production.
In the view, the specialist in soil fertility and plant nutrition, Silvino Moreira, pointed out that Angola, with the natural resources it has, such as limestone, “one of the best”, can make a leap in the supply of calcium and magnesium for plants, but also neutralizes soil acidity.
The professor at the Federal University of Lavras, in Brazil, pointed out that using limestone and gypsum would be the first step for Angola to stop being a food importing country and become a large producer for the population and to sell the surplus.
He reinforced that with the use of these techniques, as well as direct planting and intercropping systems, as long as an area is irrigated, it is possible to harvest more than three tons of products per hectare, compared to the current 500.
“We (Brazilians) have made a lot of mistakes over these three decades and we do not want Angola to make the same mistakes, transferring things that worked in Brazil”, he stated.
This exchange of experience between Angola and Brazil in the agricultural field is possible due to a strategic memorandum of cooperation which exists between the companies Jardins da Yoba and the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) of Brazil, lasting 10 years.
However, this is the second year of the cooperation, which among other advantages is making it possible to train staff as well as the use of modern techniques in the agricultural sector.
EM/MS/MRA/jmc
