Deal with The risks that climate change brings to Brazilian agriculture was the theme of the seminar promoted by the Center for Agricultural and Environmental Economics (NEA), of the Institute of Economics (IE) at Unicamp, in partnership with Escola Superior Nacional de Seguros (ESNS). “Agriculture is a very important sector for the Brazilian economy and is subject to many risks that threaten not only the farmer, but the whole of society. We cannot prevent it from raining, but we can be prepared for the eventuality of it raining too much”, explained Antônio Márcio Buainain, organizer of the event.
According to the economist, there is a lack of risk management policy in this sector that needs to be addressed. Climate zoning, the use of information and communication technologies and rural insurance were some of the measures highlighted during the seminar, in order to previously reduce risks or subsequently minimize losses.
“Anyone who thinks climate change is something futuristic is running a very high risk,” said Eduardo Assad, researcher at Embrapa Informática Agropecuária. According to him, the predictions made in 2001 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have already come true. “We are experiencing exponential growth in the maximum daily temperature and this directly affects agriculture. Coffee that is entering flowering loses its flower. The bean loses its flower. The cow will not produce milk in the amount it used to. Beef cattle lose weight. Not to mention the increasing frequency of extreme events,” he highlighted.
To control these and many other variables involved in agricultural production processes, Embrapa is developing an integrated risk management system. “Today, we have several types of data being generated that are not used jointly to support the decision-making involved in the process, from federal government bodies to agricultural producers”, explained Silvia Massruhá, general head of Embrapa agricultural information technology. According to the researcher, the project is based on the concept of agriculture 4.0, which provides for decisions based on knowledge, data and information. “Connected agriculture using cutting-edge technology”, she emphasized.
According to Buainain, agricultural insurance has a special highlight in the debate as it is a measure of last resort. “Even if all preventive measures are taken, weather events can cause enormous losses. If the farmer is discovered, the consequences follow in a chain, affecting suppliers, local businesses and the population as a whole”, he pointed out.
Under the title "Climate Change, Risk Management and Rural Insurance in Brazilian Agriculture", the seminar takes place this Monday and Tuesday (18th and 19th), in the IE's Zeferino Vaz auditorium. Check out the programming complete.
