To strengthen the development of family and peasant farming in Brazil, the Chinese company Sinomach Digital Technology Corporation signed, on Friday (11), a memorandum of understanding in Brasília with the Maricá City Hall (Rio de Janeiro state) and OZ.Earth, an agrotechnology company.
The agreement provides for the integration of traditional industrial production, with the supply of agricultural machinery to family farmers, assistance in the development of high-tech industries, and a digital agricultural management platform to be implemented in agrarian reform areas. China’s Sinomach works with digital technologies to modernize agriculture and has experience with similar projects in Africa and Asia.
During the meeting to sign the document, representatives from the Brazilian government, Sinomach, the National Union of Popular Agrarian Reform Cooperatives of Brazil (Unicrab, in Portuguese), and Maricá City Hall were present.
For the executive secretary of Brazil’s General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Kelli Mafort, the cooperation shows the pride of two sovereign countries. “Strengthening development processes for Brazilian family farmers is a major challenge, because we know that in times of climate change, environmental crisis and also the need to advance in healthy food production, farmers must have access to the appropriate technology and machinery,” she said.
Milestone
The municipality of Maricá was one of the main beneficiaries of the agreement. The memorandum provides for the development of a technological cooperation project focused on the installation of intelligent agricultural machinery factories (Chinese technology) for family farming and the development of digital platforms for machinery management.
“This partnership we’ve signed is a milestone and could be a potential lever for agriculture in Brazil, especially family farming. Maricá is concerned about family farming, small producers and the production of pesticide-free food,” explains Ivana Melo, the municipality’s Secretary for Institutional Articulation.
Besides digitalization, another goal is to build machinery factories with Chinese technology that can help family farmers. “I believe this partnership will lead to projects that will help us tackle issues such as bio-inputs, renewable energy and also mechanization in family farming,” said Unicrab’s representative Diego Moreira.
Brazil-China cooperation
Since 2022, Brazil and China have been establishing partnerships to strengthen family farming. The Northeast Consortium signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Institute for Innovation in Agricultural Equipment and Intelligent Agriculture at China Agricultural University.
In 2024, China sent extensive agricultural machinery to Brazil. Harvesters, planters and fertilizers were tested at the Água Limpa Farm of the University of Brasilia (UnB, in Portuguese) and in settlements of the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST, in Portuguese). Tests show that the Chinese equipment is adapted to Brazilian reality.
