The Brazilian research organisation in agriculture and environmental sciences, Embrapa, opened its office in Wageningen today. Embrapa is the largest research organisation of its kind in Latin America, with about 8,000 staff. From the office in Wageningen, Embrapa will establish contacts and collaboration between its own institutes and those of Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR). The cooperation will largely focus on research and developments in environmental protection and biofuels. Embrapa choose Wageningen because it considers Wageningen UR as a strong partner with a world wide reputation.
The head of the Embrapa office in Wageningen, Dr. Manoel Souza, will spend half of his time on setting up the collaboration, and the remaining time on his genomic research, in collaboration with researchers of the Plant Sciences Group of Wageningen UR.
Apart from the office in Wageningen, that was opened by its president Dr. Sylvio Crestana, Embrapa has representations in the U.S. and in France. A fourth office will be opened in Ghana shortly. Embrapa would like to explore possibilities for cooperation in Africa with Wageningen UR. During his visit dr. Crestana discussed two major themes: the Africa strategy of Wageningen UR and the biofuel research agenda.
Embrapa consists of 39 research institutes in Brazil and in addition some tens of applied research stations. The organization is specialized in region, product and technology. This way, Embrapa has contributed to a large productivity raise in the Brazilian agriculture.