May 25, 2022

10:05

Iury Lima – Cenarium Magazine

VILHENA (RO) – With an extensive program and actions focused on praising the role of women in the agricultural production, the 9th edition of the International Rondônia Rural Show started last Monday, 23rd, the biggest agribusiness fair in the North Region of the country. The event was suspended for two years, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and returned with the high expectation of surpassing all records. 

“This is the seventh biggest agro fair in Brazil, and the State of Rondônia expects to move something around R$ 1 billion in business”, declared the State Secretary of Agriculture, Evandro Padovani, in an interview to CENARIUM MAGAZINE.

The fair

For the first time, the agribusiness event will last almost a week: from May 23rd to May 28th, in Ji-Paraná, 372 kilometers from the capital Porto Velho.

The expectation is to gather around 600 exhibitors with spaces given over to traders, technological showcases, agribusiness, artisans and large companies. Another record that the State Secretary of Agriculture (Seagri/RO) intends to break is the public, because, for this year, more than 200 thousand people are expected.

For the holder of Seagri, in Rondonia, the fair is a great opportunity to formalize business, which should attract public institutions, private companies, banks and credit cooperatives, besides rural producers.

“Rondonia has, consecutively, been growing in production and gaining in productivity, improving the quality certification of its products, besides having a huge diversity of cultures. Here, we have milk, coffee, cocoa, soy, corn and meat, among other products. Besides this, of the nearly 140 thousand rural properties, 85% of them belong to family agriculture. It is a very expressive force that Rondônia has in the countryside”, said Padovani.

Also according to the secretary, the gross value of state agricultural and cattle production has more than doubled in the last three years, jumping from just over R$9 billion in 2019 to R$20 billion now, in 2022. 

International Fair

Since its first edition, the agribusiness fair has already moved more than R$4 billion. A good part of this amount is due to the participation and investments from other countries; hence the name Rondônia Rural Show Internacional. 

In this year’s edition, for example, embassies from countries such as Chile, Peru, the United States and many others are participating. The businesses take place in a circuit of specific stands for the negotiations. This way, investors talk to representatives of the participating companies and local producers, in order to establish partnerships and implement new technologies to promote the production in Rondonia.

Women in Agribusiness

Women’s participation in the growth of agribusiness in Rondonia is the central theme chosen for the 9th edition of the event. The goal is to value their participation, still little recognized in the sector. And this protagonism became the topic of discussion in a Talk Show promoted during the program on Tuesday 24th, the second day of the event. 

Women who work as rural producers, playing a fundamental role in Rondônia’s productive chains, participated. This was one of the initiatives established to honor them during the entire RRS International.

“I am the daughter of a woman producer who raised five children by working in the fields and I know the true importance of the woman producer. The woman needs to take the lead and occupy the space she wants,” said, with emotion, the rural producer from the city of Buritis, Lair Ferreira, who participated in the conversation circle.

Lair has been in this business for more than two decades; she in the leadership and her husband giving support. “Today, we have technology and a lot of knowledge, by our side, to evolve each day. I am very proud of the producer I have become,” she added. 

Rondônia advances in the subject, but still needs to improve the scenario, since of all rural enterprises installed in the state, less than 18% are led by women, against an overwhelming majority of 82.14% of properties managed by men, according to data from the Entidade Autárquica de Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural (Emater/RO).

Goals

With the results already achieved, Secretary Evandro Padovani does not hide his satisfaction. On the other hand, he recognizes that there is still much more to be done.

“We have 25 municipalities in the geographical identification of Robusta Coffee and we are winning the international market, especially the North American and Chinese (…) besides the 50 countries to which Rondônia already exports meat, we have our eyes on the European market. In terms of bovine herd, ours is the sixth biggest in Brazil, with more than 15 million heads, and we are the fourth biggest in exports of boneless meat in the country. We want to expand our production capacity and, for this, we have quantity and quality”, concluded the holder Seagri/RO.