Sustainable soy in the Cerrado Program introduces new participants for its 2023 edition
From September 20 to 22, selected startups will take part in three days of immersion at a face-to-face welcome event with farmers, researchers, partners and the private sector.
Seven startups have been selected for the 2023 edition of the Sustainable Soy in the Cerrado Program (“PSSC”), a partnership involving AgTech Garage, part of the PwC network, and the Land Innovation Fund, with strategic support from Cargill, CPQD, Embrapa and Embrapii. AgriSoft, Bio2Me, Biome4All, Grão Direto, Já Entendi Agro, Seleção Natural and Vega Monitoramento will each receive up to US$ 50,000 in financial support to develop their solutions through the Startup Finance Facility, technical and scientific support from a team of researchers selected for the Cerrado Fellowship, and direct contact with farmers active in the For Farmers Program. This year, the winners will take part in a first-ever immersion and knowledge-exchange event with representatives from the entire agricultural supply chain, at the headquarters of the Cargill Innovation Center in Campinas.
The new participants will join the 21 startups selected in the program's first four cycles, expanding the reach and diversity of innovative solutions for deforestation-free, sustainable agriculture, with no conversion of the Cerrado biome's vegetation. Farmers, strategic partners, and guests from the private sector took part in the startup selection process. Based on criteria such as the maturity of the solution, potential to contribute to the program, capacity for innovation and potential impacts, the selected projects offer solutions to major challenges on international agricultural and environmental agendas, with solutions for traceability, monitoring and compliance, soil recovery, biodiversity, and technical training to expand sustainable agricultural practices in the field.
"The PSSC is designed to offer participating companies the financial, technological and knowledge support they need to create innovative solutions for sustainable agricultural development, free from deforestation and conversion of native vegetation," explains Ashley Valle, director of the Land Innovation Fund. "The program itself is an innovation, in that it integrates all the links in the agricultural supply chain, supporting and connecting key partners to spur positive impacts for solutions to the demands of the global agricultural, climate and environmental agenda," she adds.
Immersion event:
From September 20 to 22, startups, farmers, researchers, partners, and representatives of the private sector are coming together for the first time to immerse themselves in the Sustainable Soy in the Cerrado Program - 2023 Edition. This original initiative aims to bring together the various players in the agricultural supply chain, offering participants a 360º view of demands, challenges, and opportunities for agriculture to keep up with sustainability and climate-change mitigation agendas.
The three days will be spent exchanging knowledge, discussing ideas, and sharing experiences based on the innovations and entrepreneurship experiences of the seven new startups selected to join the Program's portfolio, with contributions from representatives of the entire agricultural supply chain. Growers in the For Farmers Program will come from all over the country to take part in the meeting and learn more about solutions to be developed in this new cycle. To complement the outlook of the food industry, Cargill's commercial partners will also enrich the event with their perspectives as end-consumer suppliers.
"Cargill is in the middle of the food chain and this meeting was designed to connect all the links, enhancing the reach of solutions developed by the Sustainable Soy in the Cerrado Program. By bringing together farmers, startups, academia, investors, and industry, we are able to connect market demands and agribusiness needs with the people who think and innovate in this country, catalyzing efforts, expertise and investments to promote sustainable, deforestation-free agriculture," says Eric Geglio, Cargill's Global Land Use Manager.
The meeting will take place at the Cargill Innovation Center in Campinas and includes a visit to the CPQD research center, lectures by experts from Embrapa and the International Institute for Sustainability (IIS) and experiences shared by startups from previous PSSC cycles. On September 22, the startups will also have a working day at the AgTech Garage headquarters in Piracicaba to start planning their annual activities based on inputs and expertise acquired during the immersion event.
"The Sustainable Soy in the Cerrado Program puts into practice the pillars of innovation, integrated solutions and a focus on the farm that guide the work of the Land Innovation Fund. This immersion and welcoming event fortifies and reaffirms our commitment to enabling the biome's conservation with innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture, to meet growing demands from the international market," says Mariana Galvão, Deputy Director of Programs and Projects.
PSSC - 2023 Edition
In this latest edition of the Program, Cargill will be responsible for adding market value by validating and evaluating solutions, as well as providing support at events and workshops, and engaging with farmers to bring entrepreneurs and growers closer together. Embrapa will be responsible for ongoing support by experts to develop the solutions, participating in the analysis of proposals, mentoring and masterclasses.
The Brazilian Company for Industrial Research and Innovation (Embrapii) will be responsible for connecting startups and entrepreneurs with research centers to carry out the selected projects, as well as co-financing specific initiatives with grants. One of the Embrapii units, the Telecommunications Research and Development Center (CPQD) will support entrepreneurs working with Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Connectivity, IoT and other technologies that fall within the institution's area of expertise.
"The PSSC connects farmers, researchers, experts, and the market, allowing entrepreneurs to access all sorts of expertise to develop, test and scale-up their solutions," explains José Tomé, CEO at AgTech Garage and a partner at PwC. "The unprecedented intersection of For Farmers with the Cerrado Fellowship, and the financial support from the SFF, plus the participation of three of the country's leading research and development institutions - Embrapii, CPQD and now Embrapa - as well as support from a trader like Cargill, places our Program on the frontier of innovation within the entrepreneurial ecosystem," he adds.
Results achieved:
Since it was launched in March 2021, the Sustainable Soy in the Cerrado Program has received 253 applications from 17 states in Brazil, as well as the Federal District. Throughout all five cycles so far, 28 startups have been selected to join the program's portfolio, with solutions covering entire farms, from crop fields to standing forests. Of this total, 18 projects implemented by 22 startups have been selected for financial support from the Startup Finance Facility. In addition, startups selected into the portfolio received more than R$2.4 million in additional funding from partner institutions to refine their solutions. 29 researchers from the Cerrado Fellowship and 20 farmers from For Farmers participated in the program.
Here are the newly selected startups and their initiatives:
AgriSoft: this company aims to use the digital administrative systems it develops to incorporate sustainability monitoring criteria and protocols into its farm management software, with tools to measure and monitor responsible agricultural practices. Initially developed to manage farms' operational and financial aspects, AgriSoft's is incorporating a new approach to farm management, embedding sustainability criteria and protocols into the company’s services.
Bio2Me: more than 650 million hectares of Brazil's native vegetation could become a valuable source of income for farmers. Bio2Me proposes to manage environmental conservation areas – including legal reserves – in order to build sustainable value chains beginning with the production of bioactive compounds from preserved areas. By connecting farmers with investors, Bio2Me hopes to generate an alternative source of income that complements the opening up of new agricultural areas through the use of baru, fava d'anta, assai, carnauba and other native fruits found in the biome.
Biome4All: five million hectares of degraded pastures are suitable for soy cultivation in Brazil. Of this total, an estimated two million hectares are located on three types of latosols. In addition, there are approximately 21.4 million hectares planted to soy in the Cerrado - 8.5 million of which are located on latosols whose state of degradation is unknown.
Through its participation in the Sustainable Soy in the Cerrado Program, Biome4All intends to develop a microbiological maturity indicator to assess soil quality in this biome – focused on red-yellow, dark red and purple latosols – and a tool to predict an area’s susceptibility to degradation, thus contributing to healthier microbiota more resilient to climate conditions.
Grão Direto: the Grão Direto trading platform intends to connect with experts in traceability to offer an additional service to monitor agricultural production and optimize the quality of compliance reports. The startup also intends to add data from intermediaries to its service platform, ensuring the expansion of the company's traceability portfolio. Buyers will then be able to access socio-environmental information on shipments being negotiated, ensuring transparency and environmental compliance throughout the supply chain.
Já Entendi Agro: this education technology startup specialized in agriculture plans to develop a course on sustainable, deforestation-free soy production to train professionals in the sector. The company's proposal is to create clear and accessible content for agricultural technicians and other professionals in the sector to prepare them to implement sustainable agricultural practices in the field. Through its participation in the PSSC, the startup intends to produce six courses with five video lessons each, based on the contribution of researchers from the Cerrado Fellowship Program, which can be validated and implemented by farmers participating in the For Farmers Program.
Seleção Natural: with expertise in the creation of methodologies and research protocols to monitor species in the Brazilian biota, Seleção Natural is developing a platform to simplify the automated preparation of action plans, for farmers and the private sector to implement and comply with biodiversity commitments. This will enable the efficient planning of priority conservation actions by directing financial resources to optimize demonstrable results, with which they can obtain certifications, green bonds, and payments for environmental services. The aim is to maximize the use and scope of ecosystem services to promote sustainable, deforestation-free farming.
Vega Monitoramento: mismatched technical information, failure to understand environmental legislation and the bureaucratic complexity of public agencies and data tools can delay and jeopardize environmental regularization. VEGA's proposal is to address the shortage of technical support for farmers in the Cerrado soy supply chain seeking to adapt to the rising tide of environmental demands on domestic and international markets with a regulatory database for the region. By participating in the PSSC, this startup intends to improve the LYRA data platform and speed up implementation of a mobile application to help users access socio-environmental information, mapped and categorized with remote sensing, artificial intelligence, and machine-learning technologies.