Sílvio Ávila
T
he Minas Gerais Association
of Cotton Farmers (Amipa) is
a non-profit public utility that
acts on behalf cotton farming
in Minas Gerais. It was found-
ed on 20th July 1990, at a meeting at the
headquarters of the Minas Gerais Stock Ex-
change, inContagem, at the initiativeof bro-
ker Ricardo Santiago, with the participa-
tion of the cotton farmers of the State and
the board members of the Brazilian Associ-
ation of Cotton Producers (Abrapa). The first
head officewas established in Unaí, and the
first presidentwas farmerNelsonSchneider,
now a member of the Consultative Coun-
cil at the entity. In 2002, the head office was
transferred to Patos de Minas, where the
headquarters now operate, with a subsid-
iary inUberlândia.
Over a period of almost 17 years, Amipa
hasbeenengagedinfindingtherighttrackfor
all associated growers, cotton gins, coopera-
tives, brokers, textile industries, state govern-
mentandmunicipalities,leadingtowardsthe
development of the sector, the sustainabil-
ity of the entire cotton supply chain. There-
fore, supported by strategic initiatives that
disseminated throughout the state the tech-
nologies used in the Country and the world,
the cotton business in Minas Gerais contin-
ues evolving and improving its representa-
tiveness in the state, national andglobal agri-
business, with competitive productivity, over
thepast crops, byBrazilianstandards. In light
of this, the Amipa understands that this lev-
elofevolutionoftheMinasGeraiscottonsup-
plychainwouldbeunimaginableuptosome
years ago without the work of the state and
The Minas Gerais Association of Cotton
Farmers(Amipa)hasbeen17yearsinoperationonbehalf
ofthedevelopmentofcottonfarmingintheState
MinasGerais
Cotton
inthespotlight
national partners. Together, they helped the
entity to make it viable to create and main-
tain several projects for the necessary tech-
nological and administrative support to the
associatedcotton farmers.
Within this context, to the State Govern-
ment, under the supervision of the Minas
Gerais Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock
and Supply (Seapa), administrator of the
Minas Gerais Cotton Incentive Program
(Proalminas) and theDevelopment Fund for
CottonFarming inMinasGerais (Algominas),
for reasons of annual resources made avail-
able to the Amipa, there is need to attribute
an important role of the excellent results
achieved inmeeting the needs of the cotton
farmers and lending themsupport.
Important projects and programs are of
note, such as: PCMB (monitoring and fight
against pests), PMGMA (georeferencing and
measurement of planting areas), PRA (de-
velopment of small-scale cotton farming
in North Minas), Geam (study and research
group for enhancing the quality of cotton
and pest management), Minas Cotton (one
of the best laboratories in theworld for ana-
lyzingandgradingcotton fiber), andAS (sus-
tainability in processing seed cotton).
n
n
n
Fostering
The Brazilian Cotton Institute (IBA) deserves special mention in the history of the
Amipa, by virtue of the investments made on behalf of the state cotton farming busi-
ness. The main destinations for the resources include the implementation of sustain-
ability programs and fight against pests, globally acknowledged, and higher quality in
services rendered to cotton growers, through the famousMinas Cotton Laboratory.
The latter expanded its analyzing capacity with a second HVI piece of equipment
and now is operating in its new location, projectedwith an eye on the diversification of
technological activities. Furthermore, at family farming, the IBAwas one of the biggest
financersof theactivity in theNorthMinasGerais region, by lending support to theAmi-
pa in the acquisition of amodern harvester destined for the small-scale farmers.
Finally, it is thanks to the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (Abrapa) that
other important investments reached family cotton farming in the state. These invest-
mentsmade it possible to keep a technical assistance team to the farmers and the im-
plementation of the fundamental sustainability programs at cotton farming.
As a result, the Amipa is projecting itself into the national and international scenar-
ios as reference association in the organization of a cotton supply chain, being of note
for its support to the associated members in producing high quality cotton, now ac-
knowledged abroad, and produced under global sustainability standards. In Minas
Gerais, the entitymade history by promoting, jointlywith the state government, an im-
portant recovery of small-scale cotton farming throughout several communities in the
North portion of the State, amark of the inherent strength of any associative power.
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