In the last two years, 32 families have been participating in an initiative created to improve the cultivation and quality of grains.
Family farmers in the municipality of Rio Casca (MG) reached a turnover of around R$ 174 thousand with the sale of bean crops in the last two years. These small producers participate in the Bean Project, an initiative of the Renova Foundation in partnership with the PINK brand of the DGH Foods group, the Municipality of Rio Casca and the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company of the State of Minas Gerais (Emater-MG).
32 producer families from the rural communities of Rochedo, Córrego Preto and Leonel participate in the project. Together, the harvests of 2020 and 2021 totaled 686 sacks harvested, around 41 tons of beans. With superior quality seeds, the beans cultivated by the families reached the Type 1 classification, which is more valued by the market, and the value per sack also doubled. There is also an additional production that is not commercialized, being destined to feed the families involved in the project and reserved for future crops.
“In the current scenario, of an economy in crisis, pandemic and difficulties in providing technical assistance, it is very significant that we reach the generation of income in excess of R$170,000 for these families, who sometimes even lost or sold their beans for negligible amounts due to difficulties of access to the market”, says André Mapa, an Economics and Innovation analyst at the Renova Foundation.
Upcoming actions
After the second harvest, the next action will be to support the communities in the formalization of an Association of Rural Producers, which will allow them to develop other productive activities and raise funds to put them into practice. The implementation of a seed bank, through the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (ATER) work, is already underway in the communities.
The project
For the development of the Bean Project, a technical assistance plan was created to improve the cultivation. Emater-MG indicated the necessary actions to correct the soil’s acidity and increase the concentration of nutrients.
Farmers also received seeds, fertilizer and agrosilicon from the Renova Foundation, a soil “corrector”, for the treatment of the land before cultivation.
The market was opened with DGH Foods, which guided the community on the specifications for the sale of beans and created an exclusive package for the product, called Cultivo do Bem, which also bears the Friends of Doce River seal.
To learn more about the Bean Project:
Rio Casca producers receive guidance to improve the productivity of their crops