*The China-Brazil agreement signed in 2022 has allowed a technological-agricultural exchange
*Small-scale farming has played a fundamental role in China in ensuring food security
*Agrarian Reform in 1949 and 1950 eliminated large landlords and distributed all land to farmers
*China provides clear legal and political support for the development of mechanization
*In 2004 China subsided purchases of agricultural machinery increasing agricultural mechanization from 33 to 61%
*The inauguration of the demonstration unit in Brazil is scheduled for February next year
*Small-scale farming has played a fundamental role in China in ensuring food security
*Agrarian Reform in 1949 and 1950 eliminated large landlords and distributed all land to farmers
*China provides clear legal and political support for the development of mechanization
*In 2004 China subsided purchases of agricultural machinery increasing agricultural mechanization from 33 to 61%
*The inauguration of the demonstration unit in Brazil is scheduled for February next year
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 In the ever-changing landscape of global agriculture, China and Brazil have come together in a groundbreaking
00:05 partnership to revolutionize their agricultural sectors.
00:08 This agreement, forged last year, has paved the way for unprecedented cooperation and
00:12 modernization in both countries' farming practices, with a shared goal of meeting the
00:17 basic food needs of their populations.
00:20 This collaboration has already begun to yield promising results.
00:22 Join us as we dive into the story of this remarkable partnership and the impact it is
00:27 having on the agricultural landscape of China and Brazil.
00:31 A shipment of Chinese agricultural machinery is on its way to Brazil.
00:37 Equipment such as microtractors, brush cutters, seeders and planters will be headed to family-run
00:42 farms in Ceará, Maranhão, ParaÃba and Rio Grande do Norte, including settlements of
00:48 the Landless Rural Workers Movement, also known as the MST.
00:52 This is the result of an agreement signed in 2022 by the Northeast Consortium in Brazil,
00:57 Baobab, the China Agricultural University and China's Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers
01:03 Association.
01:04 The Brazil-China Agricultural Machinery Demonstration Unit will be installed in the municipality
01:09 of Apogi, which will be used to test and study the use of the machinery on northeastern soil.
01:16 The northeast region of Brazil only has less than 3% of the organization rate.
01:20 Nationally, this level doesn't reach 14%.
01:24 And in the southern region, family farming mechanization levels are close to 50%.
01:29 So this partnership will enable us to advance in the technology of family farming in the
01:34 northeast, which represents 50% of the total family farming in Brazil.
01:39 There are many similarities between family farming in Brazil and small-scale farming
01:43 in China.
01:44 There are also many opportunities for cooperation in the field of agricultural mechanization
01:48 and agricultural modernization.
01:51 China's development model for peasants, which uses social services as a strategy to
01:55 boost communities, as well as China's small and medium-sized agricultural machinery products,
02:01 have certain adaptability to Brazil.
02:04 China has many mountainous areas.
02:07 I have been to Brazil twice, and there are also many mountainous areas in Brazil's
02:11 farmland.
02:12 Therefore, I believe we have many opportunities for cooperation, and this cooperation has
02:16 already started.
02:17 A study published last year by the Hunan Agricultural University and Hunan University of Science
02:23 and Engineering countered the view that agricultural mechanization only generates benefits if it's
02:29 implemented on a large scale.
02:31 The researchers showed that the application of machines to small-scale farming has played
02:35 a fundamental role in China in ensuring food security and eradicating poverty in rural
02:41 areas.
02:42 Next to cooperatives and SOEs, peasants represent more than 80 percent of agricultural production
02:48 in China and cultivate more than 70 percent of the country's arable land, according
02:54 to the latest agricultural census carried out in 2020.
02:58 On average, each peasant owns less than one hectare of land and most own half an hectare.
03:04 In 1959, as part of the Great Leap Forward development campaign, leader Mao Zedong asserted
03:09 that the fundamental way out of agriculture lay in mechanization.
03:14 As we all know, China carried out Revolution and then an agrarian reform in 1949 and 1950,
03:21 which eliminated large landlords and distributed all land to peasants.
03:25 Based on this agrarian structure of small production units, China gradually industrialized
03:30 its economy by producing machines for this type of peasant.
03:35 There are 8,000 tractor factories here.
03:37 In Brazil, we have four large tractor factories, all multinational and all directed towards
03:42 large properties, large machines.
03:45 Here in China, it is the opposite.
03:48 All factories with a tractor, harvester or farming implements are always aimed at small
03:53 units.
03:54 Under these production conditions, with so many small-scale farmers, we can also achieve
04:00 food security in China.
04:02 Total cereal production has remained above 650 million tons in the last eight years,
04:08 satisfying the basic food needs for the Chinese population.
04:12 For the development of mechanization, China provides clear legal and political support.
04:17 This includes operational subsidy policies and subsidies for the purchase of agricultural
04:21 machinery.
04:22 Furthermore, there is a solid research base, as well as a well-established industrial system.
04:28 Starting in 2004, China began granting subsidies for purchases of agricultural machinery.
04:34 From that year until 2015, the country allocated 120 billion yuan to subsidize the purchase
04:41 of more than 35 million machines.
04:45 During this period, the level of agricultural mechanization in China increased from 33 to
04:50 61 percent.
04:52 Currently, the figure has reached 73 percent.
04:56 After the policy began, the government made adjustments to the system and began to directly
05:00 subsidize farmers and no longer companies or financial institutions.
05:06 If subsidized funds were allocated directly to businesses, there would be the possibility
05:10 of precise seeking between businesses and government departments.
05:14 However, by advocating for payment for machinery purchases, subsidized funds are given directly
05:20 to farmers, allowing them to truly benefit from the national policy.
05:25 The three shipments of machines are scheduled to arrive in Brazil between November and December.
05:30 The inauguration of the demonstration unit in Apuji, as well as the start of use of the
05:35 machinery in other areas, should take place in February next year.
05:39 In addition to the importance of mechanization, there is another fundamental component that
05:44 this partnership will enable.
05:46 It is an exchange of knowledge and an exchange of knowledge in relation to public policies.
05:52 China has recently been a reference when it comes to the process of ensuring that public
05:55 policies reach communities.
05:58 So this approach will enable us to increasingly learn from the Chinese, and the Chinese will
06:04 also learn from the Brazilian experience with regard to threatening family farming.