Agriculture, ethanol: Brazil ready to offer technical help to Pakistan

The Brazilian government is ready to offer technical co-operation to Pakistan through sharing of knowledge, technology and expertise in agriculture and ethanol on the request of Government of Pakistan, said Bruno de Amorim Maciel, Project Analyst, Ministry of External Relations, Brazil during a press conference on Friday.
He said that the government departments had showed their willingness to adopt and apply the experiences of Brazil in agriculture and ethanol during their meeting with the high ups. He said that two delegations of Pakistani agricultural specialists would be invited to visit Brazil in early 2012: one will focus on sugarcane, cotton and germ plasma exchange, while the other mission will learn from the Brazilian experience in rural extension and in public policies for the benefit of small farmers. He added that each delegation would have approximately five members, to be chosen by the Government of Pakistan.
These initiatives would be confirmed by bilateral documents to be signed during the upcoming visit of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to Brazil, in late November 2011. On the occasion, an umbrella agreement on technical co-operation will also be signed, allowing for future endeavours of Brazilian-Pakistani partnership, he maintained.
An official delegation of experts and engineers from the Brazilian Co-operation Agency (ABC) and the Pernambuco Institute of Agronomics (IPA), linked to the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), visited Islamabad between October 10 and 14.
It was the first ever visit of a technical mission from the Brazilian Government to Pakistan. The team comprised project analyst Bruno de Amorim Maciel, genetics expert Gabriel Alves Maciel, psytopathology expert Vanildo Bezerra Cavalcanti and rural extension expert Minucio Monteiro Filho along with First Secretary Thomaz Napoleão of the Embassy of Brazil.
The Brazilian delegation held high-level meetings at the Prime Minister's Secretariat, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Industries and Production, the Economic Affairs Division, the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and the Embassy of Brazil in Islamabad. The experts also visited the laboratories and facilities of the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC). Brazil is known as a global leader in agriculture and livestock, particularly in products such as sugarcane, ethanol, soybeans, coffee, beef, other dairy products, poultry, oranges and fruits.