Seed producers, technicians and public managers in the agricultural area of Pará municipalities got to know the four new cowpea cultivars developed by Embrapa, last Wednesday (02/15), in a Field Day held in the municipality of Tracuateua, region Northeast of Pará. The event marked the opening of the public offer notice that will license producers to produce and commercialize the seeds of the new materials.
The cultivars BRS Bené (brown grains), BRS Guirá (black grains), BRS Utinga (white grains) and BRS Natalina (type “manteiguinha”) have higher yield potential than the traditional ones currently grown in the state of Pará; erect and semi-erect bearing, facilitating both manual and mechanized harvesting; and excellent grain quality, as stated by researcher Francisco Freire Filho, from Embrapa Amazônia Oriental.
“They have different commercial appeals. BRS Bené, for example, has coarse brown grain, which is the preference of consumers in Pará. BRS Utinga, with a rough white skin, serves the grain market in the Northeast region of the state. BRS Guirá is the first black-grain cowpea cultivar recommended for producers in Pará. And there are butter beans, which is BRS Natalina, consumed in practically the entire state and also in the state of Amapá”, analyzes the researcher.
Resumption of production in Pará
The new cultivars were developed in the area of rural entrepreneur and farmer Benedito Dutra, a partner of Embrapa Amazônia Oriental. For him, cowpea has the potential to serve both family and business agriculture. “Research has played its part so far, which is to develop the genetic material. Now it’s up to us, producers and public managers, to take this technology to Pará’s farmers”, he says.
He says that the area with cowpea in the municipalities of Bragança, Tracuateua, Augusto Corrêa and Viseu, which reached over 10,000 hectares in 2008, was no more than 2,000 hectares in the 2022 harvest. cowpea production in the Bragantina region, in the Northeast of Pará”, says Dutra.
In the last ten years, the production of beans in Pará has fallen by around 40%, reaching 21 thousand tons in the 2021/2022 harvest. Of this total, 19 thousand tons are cowpea grains, according to data from the National Supply Company (Conab).
Researcher Rui Alberto Gomes points out that the grain quality of the new varieties is very much adjusted to the consumer market. He also points out that the medium and early cycles of the new cultivars, from 70 to 75 days, is an important differential for their use in the off-season of grains in the state of Pará. “The new cultivars have a cycle approximately one month shorter than the earlier maize cultivars. So it’s a good option for the off-season, to complement the corn crop, especially in conditions with little water availability,” he adds.
Farmer Francisco Douglas Cunha, who has been working with cowpea for 30 years in the municipality of Augusto Corrêa, believes that the new materials will strengthen agriculture in the Northeast region of Pará, as they directly meet the demand of producers. “Each material has its advantage. The grains of the brown variety take a long time to darken and this condition is very important for the producer, as normally we are obliged to sell it soon after harvesting”, exemplifies Douglas. For him, the biggest challenge currently is to overcome the state of Mato Grosso, which is the largest producer of cowpea in the country.
commercial exploitation contract
Seed producers interested in producing and selling seeds must meet the requirements established in the public notice, be registered in the National Registry of Seeds and Seedlings (Renasem), of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, and express interest by 5 pm on March 14, 2023, by email [email protected].
The selected seedbed now has a contract for the commercial exploitation of the materials developed by Embrapa. “This brings a lot of security to those who sell and those who buy genetic material with the Embrapa brand. It brings security about the origin of this seed and the performance in the field”, concludes the deputy head of Technology Transfer, Bruno Giovany de Maria, from Embrapa Amazônia Oriental.
Source: Embrapa
