Anuário Brasileiro de Sementes 2017 - page 35

S
eeds are basic inputs when it
comes to establishing forests,
both for the production of tim-
ber and the recovery of degrad-
ed areas. For the so-called pro-
duction forests, usually planted with clonal
seedlings, the seeds represent a necessary
variability for the sustainability of the cul-
tivation and advances in the quality of the
timber. This variability is necessary to con-
quer the challenges of the climate chang-
es, pests and diseases and new frontiers. In
the case of area recovering forests, the seed
is indispensable for the preservation of the
biomass. There lies the importance of quali-
ty in the production of this input.
According to the manager of products
and services at the Forest Studies and Re-
search Institute (Ipef), Israel Gomes Viei-
ra, Brazil’s seed production began to make
strides back in the 1960s, with fiscal incen-
tive. At that time, the demand for forest
plantings was encouraged, therefore gen-
erating the requirement for quality seeds.
“The need to produce was responsible for
the development of the production tech-
nology”, hecomments. “Nonetheless, as the
forest seed market is small, no relevant ad-
vances were achieved in this area, remain-
ing limited, due to the lack of interest, to ac-
ademicstudies,which,forthemostpart,did
not generate any production technology”.
Now, the mater in forest sciences be-
lieves that priority to studies intend-
ed to come up with an organized market
would benefit the farmers greatly. Ipef of-
ficials themselves are engaged in turning
the business more viable from a financial
point of view. “I believe that the biggest dif-
ficulty of the sector lies on the commercial
side. Nominally, there is great demand for
seeds, butmany farmers areunable toplace
them in the market and, by virtue of finan-
cial crunches, they abandon the produc-
tionof seeds, further shrinking the supply of
seeds”, he warns. “The sector needs to be in
themarket, conquering andoccupying free-
ly and definitely its space”.
Quality is no problem for the national
forests seed supply. Nowadays, Brazil is one
of themost relevant references to the world
in the cultivation of this input. Over the past
years, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock
and Food Supply (Mapa) has edited specif-
ic guidelines for the forest sector, with the
purpose to make production traceability vi-
able and ensure the good reputation of the
seeds produced. “We understand that this
will contribute towards turning the sector
evenmore reliable”, he ponders.
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Flexibility for native trees
TheMinistry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (Mapa) is engaged in regu-
lating the production, commercialization and utilization of forest seeds and seedlings.
The standards ensure the origin, identity and quality of the plants of environmental
ormedicinal interest, either native or exotic. The novelty in themeasure, which revis-
es the 2011 regulation, is the exemption of controls for small-scale farmers.
According to the director of the Agricultural Inputs Fiscal Department (DFIA), An-
dre Peralta, flexibility must only be applied for the national production, excluding all
imported products. The producers of exotic tree seeds are also excluded, like pinus
and eucalyptus, once these are genetically enhanced species and destined for com-
mercial purposes. Now, there are 406 seedlingnurseries of native forest species regis-
tered in theMapa. Of this total, 32 percent are small-scale operations, which produce
up to 10 thousand seedlings a year.
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