Current Status and Future Prospect of theAgricultural Mechanization in BrazH

byEvandro Chartuni MantovaniResearcherEmbrapa Maize and Sorghumevandro.mantovani@embrapa.brBRAZIL

Daniel Marçal de QueirozProfessorDepartment of Agricultural Engineering,Federal University ofViçosa, MG, Brazildmqueiroz@gmail.comBRAZIL

Paulo Estevão CruvinelResearcherEmbrapa Instrumentationpaulo.cruvinel@embrapa.brBRAZIL

AbstractBrazil is known worldwide as

one of the major producers of grain,meat, sugar, coffee and other prod-ucts. Agribusiness is one of themain activities in Brazil and con-tributes significantly to the Brazil-ian economy. This fact led to evengreater investments and develop-ments in the market of agriculturalmachinery and implements in thecountry. From the 1960s to the endof 2018, land areas with agriculturalpotentia1 increased substantially,while the total number of wheeltractor fleets increased six-fold; inother words, the mechanized area inhectares per tractor decreased from410 to 65 ha/tractor. The machinery

Pedro Estevão Bastos de OliveiraPresidentChamber of Agricultural Machinery and Imple-ments (CSMIA)ABIMAQpedro@jacto.com.brBRAZIL

André Luís Teixeira FernandesPresidentBrazilian Society of Agriculture Engineering - SBEAandreJernandes@uniube.brBRAZIL

and equipment manufactures in thecountry today is sufficient to sup-port a high-level mechanization pro-cess and to decrease the number oftractors/seed planters/combines andother types of equipment per hect-are. The acquisition and moderniza-tion of tractors, harvesters and otherequipment types depend on the in-come of farmers and governmentaland private credit policies. The salesof agricultural machinery in Brazilare strongly influenced by the pricesof international commodities suchas soybean, maize, citrus and cof-fee. With excessive urbanizationand fewer labor resources available,extensive and highly mechanizedcrop systems, such as soybean,sugar cane, rice and corn, have

been established to attend to farmchronograms at different levels oftechnology. In addition to a largemachinery production capacity, theBrazilian industry has also investedin advanced technology, mainly intractors and combines, to save timeand fuel, lower the level of fatigueand reduce cost.

IntroductionBrazilian agricultural production

has exhibited several importantachievements during the last fourdecades, which is reflected by thelarge increase in the agriculturalGNP over the years. The 5.3 millionfarms cover an area of 350 million

20 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA 2019 VOL.50 NO.2

hectares and house a populationof 207.6 million inhabitants, withalmost 85% of the Brazilian popula-tion living in cities (IBGE, 2017).

The agriculture and agro-process-ing sectors in Brazil have shown im-pressive growth over the past threedecades. This growth has been driv-en by productivity improvementsand structural adjustments, as wellas new technologies. The growth inan area with agricultural potential isrelated to the growth in productiv-ity indices due to the more intensiveuse of mechanization (FAO, 1994).From the 1960s to the end of 2018,the land area with agricultural po-tential increased substantially, from19 to 60 million hectares, while thetotal number of wheel tractor fleetsincreased only by six-fold; in other

words, the ratio of mechanized ar-eas to tractors decreased from 410to 65 ha/tractor. However, accordingto the Brazilian Automotive Indus-try Association (ANFAVEA, 2018),the machinery industry in Braziltoday is prepared to support a high-levei mechanization process and todecrease the number of tractors/seedplanters/combines and other typesof equipment per hectare.

The Brazilian agricultural ma-chinery scenario is characterized byan active local manufacturing andtrading industry. The agriculturalmachinery industry of Brazil isdominated mainly by local. machin-ery manufacturers, and Brazil is thesixth largest exporter of machineryunits. The Brazilian agriculturalmachinery market is expected to

Levei of wheel tractor production during2013-2018* in Brazil

80000

70000

~ 60000"é

;:J 50000

40000

30000

--Wheel Tractors

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018* Obs.• until Sept. 2018

Fig. 1 Wheel tractor production levels ofBrazilian manufactures,period from 2013 to 2018*.(Source: ANFAVEA, 2018.)

BRAZllIAN PRODUCTION OFAGRICUlTURAl MACHINERY 2013-

2018*12000

10000

8000

~Z 6000:::>

4000

2000

o

-+-Grain Harvesters

__ Sugarcane

Harvesters-+- Backhoe loaders

__ Motorized

cultivators "

___ Crawle r T ractors

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018'Obs .• until Sept. 2018

Fig. 2 Agricultural machinery production levels of Brazilian manufactures, periodfrom 2013 to 2018*. (Source: ANFAVEA 2018.)

grow at a compound annual growthrate, CAGR, of 6.68% in 2018-2023.

Fig. 1 shows the wheel trac-tor production levels of Brazilianmanufacturers have been decreasingfrom 2013 to 2018, due to the eco-nomics problems in our country, butindicating a high capacity of almost80.000 tractors/year.

Fig. 2 describes the total numbersand production levels of machinesegments in Brazil from 2013 to2018 based on the statistics providedby the National Association of Auto-mobile Manufacturers (ANFAVEA,2018). Similar to wheel tractors,most of the agricultural machineryproduction has decreased during theperiod 2013-2018.

Well-trained professionals in thenational research system, both inEmbrapa and in universities, haveformed groups that have reached ahigh levei of scientific knowledge intheir respective fields. As a result,their efforts induced a new cycle oftropical agricultural processes, opti-mizing the use of Brazilian agricul-turallands (Barros et ai., 2002).

Fig. 3 shows the performance oftropical agricultural methods for 18years (2000-2018) to produce newcultivars of rice, bean, maize, soy-bean, and wheat adapted to differentregions with high soil managementtechnology, which has increasedgrain production from 81million t,in 1980, to 219 million t, in 2018, again of 170%, while the planted areahas increased from 34.6 million ofha, in 1980, to 58.4 million ha, in2018, representing only an area ex-tension of 68.8%.

The growing urbanization in de-veloping countries tends to reducethe labor supply in rural areas andto increase the demand for foodsupplies in the urban population. Anincreased demand for food supplieswhile having reduced levels in laborresources poses as a challenge andmay only be solved using biologi-cal, mechanical and organizationaltechnology through developing anefficient research systems integrated

VOL.SO NO.2 2019 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA 21

with private companies.pata from the census of agricul-

ture of the IBGE (Brazilian Insti-tute of Geography and Statistics)have indicated that in 2017, out of atotal are a of 220 million hectares,pastures occupied nearly 75% oflands (160 million hectares), whilecrops occupied the remaining 25%of lands (approximately 60 millionhectares).

Because of the factors mentioned(high food demand, land availabil-ity, agronomic technology, popula-tion change, excessive urbaniza-tion levei and lower labor resourceavailability), extensive and highlymechanized crop systems, suchas soybean and corn, have beenestablished to attend to the farmchronogram at different levels oftechnology. In addition to a largemachinery production capacity, theBrazilian industry has also investedin advanced technology, mainly intractors and combines, to save timeand fuel, lower the levei of fatigueand reduce cost. Also, GNSS (Glob-al Navigation Satellite Systems) hasbeen intensively used to determinethe direction and navigation of agri-cultural vehicles for the applicationof chemicals, fertilizers and seedswith a high level of precision. Using

the precision agriculture concept,equipment with satellite technol-ogy allows farmers to map fieldsand identify where fertilizers areneeded, and exactly which part of afield needs spraying.

Currently, agriculture 4.0 (Adam,2016) is being presented to Brazilianfarmers and involves the integrationof digital technology, by which farmmachines can communicate witheach other and related farm man-agement systems.

Present Status and Pros-pects of the AgriculturalMachinery Industry

The established agricultural ma-chinery industry in Brazil is quitediversified; the CSMIA (SectorChamber of Agricultural Machineryand Implements) of ABIMAQ has382 associates, and the main globalplayers have factories in Brazil.Government policies have aimed foragriculture to have fleet moderniza-tion programs that require a nationalcontent of 30%, an accreditationindex of 50% and the remaining20% with qualitative items (i.e. thetechnological content of the product,innovation effort, level of exports

Brazil: Harvested Area, production & grain yield- Rice, Bean, Maize, Soybean & Wheat -

250

200

150••.,.,.~c 100s:i!

50

4,500

4,000

3,500

3,000

2,500Yieldkg/ha

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

21JOO2001 20{)2 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018____ .Aiea(ha) 34.6 34,6 37/J 41,3 44.4 44,5 43,2 42,8 44,6 44.8 44,3 45,7 46,2 50,4 54,0 55,0 56,3 58,4 58,4

~Proouction(t) 81,0 95,8 94,6 120, 113, 107, 112, 12B,: 140, 129, 144, 153, 155, 182, 188. 203. 178, 234, 219,.......- Yield(Kg.tla) 2,33 2,76 2.52 2,90 2.55 2,40 2,60 2,9913.14 2,88 3,26 3,34 3.3ô 3,61 3,48 3,69 3.17 4,01 3,75

Fig.3 Grain production and cultivated area, millions ofha and tons - 2000-2018.Source: IBGE - Produção Agrícola Municipal (PAM) e Levantamento Sistemático da

Produção Agrícola (LSPA). 2017 = preview ofseptember-2017-22

and technical qualification of theemployees and added value). Theaccreditation system inhibits theimport of ready-made products butdoes not limit the import of partsand components, which can accountfor up to 70% of the total cost of theproduct. Moreover, this policy al-lows high-tech components, piecesand parts of the world's major play-ers to be imported but requiresthat part of the manufacturing andassembly be done in Brazil. The in-centive programs for mechanizationrely on subsidies from the NationalTreasury, and the purpose of thisgovernment policy is to maintainthe competitive characters ofthe na-tional industry by discouraging theimport of ready-made products. Theimport rate of agricultural machin-ery is 14%; however, unique prod-ucts without Brazilian counterpartsmay require an aliquot of 2% to thegovernment, a mechanism calledextra tariff in Brazil.

In 2017, the total disbursement ofgovernment incentive programs foragricultural machinery totaled R$12.8 billion (equivalent to approxi-mately US$ 4 billion); for 2018, agrowth of 15% over 2017 is expect-ed.

The import of agricultural ma-chinery is very small due to thepublic policies described aboveand the variety of products offeredby the industry. In the governmentprogram for small farmers calledPRONAF, there are 3,428 productsregistered in the category of plant-ing, crop treating and harvesting,and imports are restricted to ma-chineries that have no significantsales volume or, as a rule, have veryspecific features that are not offeredby the industry.

Machines used in Brazil tendto have differences in relation tothe machines used in temperateclimates. A good example is theno-tillage system, due the charac-teristics of tropical region, wherethe intensive use of soil is wholeyear, with two or three crops / year,

AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA 2019 VOL.50 NO.2

and the soi! management is oneof the main points to establish thebest conditions with the agricul-tural equipment's for crop growth.Besides the use of crop cultivars ofshort cycle, there are many otherfactors and activities, that need tobe considered for the productionsystem, like: soil improvementwith the increase of organic matterlevei, using previous crop residuecovering the surface, to preservesoil/water and to modify soil tem-perature, establishing an intensivebiology of soil, promoted by a largepopulation of insects and fungi. Tocontrol weeds and plant disease, in

25

20

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lO.l····· .

I I12.4

...............

10 8.4 8.3

5

10.6

14.7

this intensive crop system, the useof herbicides and other chemicals isimportant, demanding equipment ofdifferent size, with of soil and cropmanagement, of specific solutions offarm machinery.

The development of products ispreponderantly a task of engineer-ing and marketing teams in theindustry but in many cases, likethe No ti ll in Brazil, the projectneeded to be developed integratedwith agronomists, from the Nationalresearch system, to attend to theproduction systems of soybean andcorn for new products or productdevelopments are well known in the

............... ··H-.ú·····

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2001 200220032004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Fig. 4 Agricultural Purchasing Power Parity(PPP)- ABIMAQ -in billions ofR$ in 2018

8

7

6

5

4

3.........

2.9 .

...................-:z::r·· ..I····· 2.\ 2.4

í fi Il2

o

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2001200220032004200520062007 2008 20092010 20112012201320142015201620172018

Fig.5 Agricultural Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) - ABIMAQ - in billions ofUS$

national industry.The marketing of products is car-

ried out through resellers, whichmay be authorized to sell only thebrand of a manufacturer, or mul-tibrand resellers, which sell morethan one brando Along with thetraditional resale of machinery andimplements, there are also salesinputs from commercial machinemerchants, small farming housesand repair workshops that usuallysell parts. The after-sales service isan essential condition to competein the market because the machinesare intensely used over short peri-ods, and immediate repair in case ofbreakdown is an imperative neces-sity. The brands administer the levelof coverage in detail, which theresellers can guarantee in the after-sales service. Thus, stocks of spareparts and trained personnel to main-tain the machinery are necessary.

The sale of agricultural machin-ery in Brazil is strongly influencedby the prices of international com-modities such as soybean, maize,citrus and coffee. In Fig. 4, the saleshistory of agricultural machinery ofABIMAQ associates clearly showshigh sales cycles and low cyclesthat coincide with the high prices ofsoybeans and maize. The high salescycles in 2002 to 2004 and in 2011to 2013 coincided with high produc-tion levels of soybean and maize inthe international market.

Fig. 5 shows the same data ex-pressed in US$ for comparison.Although this figure provides an in-teresting perspective, the exchangerate in Brazil is subject to internalshocks, which always distorts theactual sales figures since the domes-tic prices of agricultural machineryare little influenced by the exchangerate.

Present Status and Pros-pects of Agricultural Ma-chinery Research Activ-ity

IVOL.50 NO.2 2019 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICAAND LATIN AMERICA 23

Brazilian universities had an im-portant role in the development ofagricultural mechanization. Agri-cultural mechanization started be-ing taught in agronomy courses atthe beginning of 20th century. Thefirst departments in agricultural en-gineering were established to offerclasses for agronomy courses.

The first graduate program in ag-ricultural engineering in Brazil wasset up in 1970 at the Federal Univer-sity of Viçosa. Since the beginning,this graduate program has providedan opportunity for students to con-duct work in the area of agriculturalmechanization. From 2000 to 2018,

ã number of graduate programswere started in agricultural engi-neering. In 2018, 18 graduate pro-grams in agricultural engineeringare being offered in Brazil.

The first Brazilian undergraduateprogram in agricultural engineeringwas established in 1972 at the Fed-eral University of Pelotas, located insouthern region of Brazil. In 2018,there are 24 undergraduate pro-grams in agricultural engineeringamong them 15 in Agricultural andEnvironmental Engineering and 6in Biosystems Engineering.

Rio Grande do Sul is the south-ernmost state in Brazil and is one ofthe most important states in termsof agricultural machinery produc-tion. The Universidade Federal deSanta Maria (Federal University ofSanta Maria) is located in this stateand has been active in agriculturalmachinery research. In 1986, theLaboratory for Testing AgriculturalMachinery, NEMA, was set up at

this university. The Federal Uni-versity of Pelotas, in the same state,set up the Nucleus for Innovation inAgricultural Machinery or NIMEq.In Rio Grande do Sul, a researchcenter dedicated to developing thetechnology for wheat crops, Embra-pa Wheat or the Brazilian ResearchCenter for Wheat crops, is located.The Embrapa center has maintaineda group of researchers dedicated tothe technological development ofagricultural machinery.

The state of Paraná greatly con-tributed to the development of agri-culture in Brazil. It was in this statethat the development of no-tillagetechniques for grain production wasstarted (Fig. 6). In this state, theUniversity of Western of Paraná,UNIOESTE, is located. This uni-versity offers undergraduate andgraduate programs in agriculturalengineering. A group of research-ers in agricultural machinery hasconcentrated their efforts to developprojects in precision agriculture.Additionally, Embrapa Soybean, theBrazilian research center for soy-bean crops, and the Paraná ResearchInstitute IAPAR, a state institute,are located in Paraná state. Thesetwo institutions have a group of re-searchers working in the field of ag-ricultural machinery. Their researchis concentrated on the developmentof no-tillage systems and the deve 1-opment of agricultural machineryfor small holder farms.

São Paulo is the state that hasmore groups of researchers workingon agricultural machinery than anyother state in Brazil. The ESALQ

Fig.6 Harvesting and sowing by taking advantage ofthe soil moisture and thecoverage of newly harvested waste.

(Source: Gessi Ceccon; http://www.agencia.cnptia.embrapa.br/)./

was the first institution to have agroup working on power and ma-chinery. More recently, they haveconcentrated their work on precisionagriculture and on the mechaniza-tion of sugarcane crops, as shown inFig.7.

Campinas State University (UNI-CAMP) has maintained a group ofresearchers in the area of power andmachinery since 1975. Most of theirresearch works have concentratedon agricultural machine design,soil-machinery interaction and pre-cision agriculture.

Another university that has strongprograms in agricultural machineryis São Paulo State University. Mostof the works at this university con-tributed towards the developmentof agricultural mechanization at thecampuses located in Botucatu andJaboticabal. They devote themselvespractically to all areas of investi-gation of agricultural machines.Additionally, Embrapa Instrumenta-tion, a Brazilian research center forinstrumentation in agriculture, is 10-cated in São Paulo. This center hasdeveloped sensors for agriculturalmachines and has a laboratory dedi-cated to the development of researchin precision agriculture. The Em-brapa center has developed researchlinked to the analysis of seedingsystems and precision agricultureof Maize and Sorghum, which is 10-cated in Minas Gerais state, Brazil.

Minas Gerais state has threeuniversiti"es that have developedresearch in agricultural machinery.The Federal University of Lavrashas developed research in different

Fig. 7 Sugarcane crop harvest.Source: 2013 Portal Agronegócio; https://

www.portaldoagronegocio.com.br

24 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA 2019 VOL.SO NO.2

areas of agricultural machinery,especially in coffee harvesting. TheFederal University of Vicosa hasalso worked on different are as ofagricultural machinery, includingmachine design, precision agricul-ture and soil-machinery interaction.The third university that has a groupworking in agricultural machineryis the Federal University of Uber-landia. The research group of thisuniversity is concentrating theirworks on precision agriculture. Boththe University of Lavras and Viçosahave graduate programs at the MScand DSc levels in agricultural engi-neering covering farm power, andmachinery.

The Brazilian National Centerfor Research and Development orCNPq has a database called theLattes Platform. Most Brazilianresearchers have curriculum vitaeregistered in this platform. In theLattes platform, it is possible tosearch for researchers from un-dergraduate levei to Doctoral andeven those developed recent inven-tions. Searching by main key wordsrelated to agricultural machinery,the following results are found pre-sented in Table 1. More than onethousand researchers at the doctorallevei are registered as working inagricultural machinery, more than

four thousands of them are workingon no-tillage systems and almosttwo thousands are working in preci-sion agriculture. No-tillage systemsare very popular in Brazil, andmore than 30 million hectares arecultivated using this system. Theadoption of precision agriculture isincreasing rapidly in Brazil. Brazil-ian researchers are showing interestin these two areas of work.

Brazilian Society of Agri-cultural Engineering andIts Activities, Membersand Magazine Publica-tions

The Brazilian Society of Agri-cultural Engineering (SBEA) wasestablished in 1965 by professors,engineers and technicians engagedin activities related to agriculturalengineering. For more than half acentury, it has been an importantlink and promoter of excellence ofresearch in agricultural engineer-ing-related areas in Brazil. Themission of the SBEA is to stimulatethe growth and promotion of sei-entific and technological develop-ment in agricultural engineeringthrough congresses, meetings andpublications of a technical-scientifíc

Table 1 Number ofresearchers working in topics related to agricultural machinery inBrazil according to the Lattes Platform ofthe Brazilian National Center for Research

Development (CNPq)

Key-WordsAgricultural MachineryAgricultural TractorsHarvestersSeeders and PlantersTillersSoil TillageNo-Tillage SystemsTechnology for Pesticide ApplicationAgricultural Machine DesignMechanized HarvestingSoil-Machinery InteractionPrecision AgricultureYield MappingVariable Rate Application

1127382272304

7567

438019942

7335

17251714

23837765085397

924896536657

14279

35902719

journal. In addition, the SBEA pro-motes exchanges among higher-levei professionals in the search forsolutions to challenges in the field ofagricultural engineering. The visionof SBEA is to establish itself as ascientific association capable of rep-resenting agricultural engineeringand holding general and sectorialtechnical-scientific events. In addi-tion to bringing together profession-ais engaged in agricultural engi-neering activities, the creation oftheSBEA aims to establish links withother similar entities established inother countries, especially its affíli-ation with the International Societyof Agricultural Engineering (CIGR),based in Paris, and participates inthe following technical sessions: i.Agricultural engineering. ii. Ruralbuildings and related equipment. iii.Agricultural machinery. iv. Ruralelectrification and agricultural ap-plications of electricity. v. Scientificorganization of work in agriculture.

Similar to other societies, the stat-utes of the SBEA define the generaland specific guidelines regardingthe functioning of an entity duringits establishment. The actual seat ofthe SBEA has been located in theFaculty of Agrarian and VeterinarySciences, UNESP, on the Jabotica-bal Campus, in São Paulo (www.sbea.org.br) (Fig. 8) and the SBEAhas 532 active members active inteaching, research and extension in-stitutions in all Brazilian regions.

Another highlight is the hostingof the annual National Congress ofAgricultural Engineering, CON-BEA, in a place and date to be

Fig. 8 The headquarters of theBrazilian Society of Agricultural

Engineering (SBEA), UNESP, on theJaboticabal Campus in São Paulo.

VOL.SONO.2 2019 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATlON IN ASIA, AFRICAAND LATlN AMERICA 25

defined by the assembly, with thepublication of annals containing thepapers presented and approved inthe congresses or the abstracts re-ferring to such works.

Over the course of five decades(from 1965 to 2018), 47 CONBEAshave been held at different teachingand research institutions establishedin different parts of the country. Themost recent edition was held in Au-gust 2018 in Brasília, DF (Fig. 9),where the site of the 2019 edition isalso announced, namely, Campinas,SP, with the Faculty of AgriculturalEngineering of UNICAMP as thehost institution.

The event had already hosted 800congressmen (Fig. 9), with the aver-age number of participants in thelast 15 years being 450 professionals

CCNBEA

~i -im-11-0_"_-..-Fig. 9 National Congress of

Agricultural Engineering, CONBEA,2018, Brasília, DF

Fig. 10 The SBEA scientific journal

Fig. 11 Event highlight of CONBEA

and students in the area. In additionto the publication of the annals ofthe various Brazilian Congresses ofAgricultural Engineering or CON-BEAs, the society publishes its ownmagazine, with associates as thecollaborators, as shown in Fig. 10.

During its 50 years of existence,the headquarters of the SBEA hasremained for 15 years at ESALQ-USP, Piracicaba (from 1965 to1980). From 1980 to 1987, Sorocabahosted the office of the SBEA atCENEA/MA. For 31 uninterruptedyears (1987 to the present), the seatof the SBEA has been located in theFaculty of Agrarian and VeterinarySciences (UNESP) on the Jabotica-bal Campus.

Advanced Technology inAgricultural Machinery

Agribusiness is one of the mainactivities of Brazil and contributessignificantly to the Brazilian econo-my. In addition to its economic im-portance, agribusiness has a strongsocial impact on the country due tothe generation of employment op-portunities and impact on the sup-ply of food, fiber and energy. In thesame way, agribusiness also con-tributes significantly to the interna-tional scenario, i.e., as a commodityand food supplier to numerous for-eign countries. In Brazil, the recentrecovery of the national economyoccurred along with a record har-vest reached; there is a new impulsein the year 2018. This fact led togreater investments and develop-ment in the market of agriculturalmachinery and implements in thecountry. In the analysis presentedby the Chamber of Machinery andAgricultural Implements (CSMIA)of the Brazilian Association of Ma-chinery and Equipment Industry(ABIMAQ), the current balance ishighly positive, and due to anotherrecord crop in the grain sector, thereis a great performance in the sale ofmachinery and implements.

In addition, the extension of fi-nancing and additionallines of cred-it have become a reality to farmers,who have found an opportunity toimprove their infrastructures, ac-quire innovations in the machinerysector and market their products ina favorable and competi tive climate.The Program for the Modernizationof the Fleet of Agricultural Trac-tors and Associated Implements andHarvesters (Moderfrota), the Na-tional Support Program for the Me-dium Rural Producer (Pronamp) andthe National Program for Strength-ening of Smallholders Farmers(Pronaf) found adequate financialsupport and the flow was uninter-rupted during the second half of2017 and in the subsequent monthsof2018.

Included in this scenario of reali-ties, in Brazil, the machinery andagricultural implement industrieshave started to offer both traditionalmachinery and intelligent machiner-ies that has incorporated knowledgeand innovation, such as embeddedelectronics for intelligent automa-tion aimed at agricultural risk man-agement and harvest forecast. In ad-dition to that, precision agriculturefor the characterization via prescrip-tion maps or real-time operation fo-cused on soil fertilization and plant-ing, pest control with intelligentsprayers, rational use of agriculturalinputs, including the applicationat varied rates, and machines withsensors and artificial intelligencetechnology to infer the quality ofproducts and levels of productivity.In this context, it could be observedthat there was a greater interest ofthe machine-producing companiesin prioritizing the supply of innova-tive machines for productivity gainsand reduction in the operational andadministrative costs.

Thus, by automating productionbased on management actions andconsidering a virtuous cycle thatincludes the preparation of the landand the selection of agricultura Iinputs and their management, in-

26 AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION IN ASIA, AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA 2019 VOL.SO NO.2

cluding associated logistic aspects,Brazil was able to demonstrate itscompetitiveness and strategy to theworld. In this context, the agribusi-ness sector has been generatingcommodities, food, fibers and en-ergy, both for consumption by theBrazilian people and for export andtrade.

Faced with a globalized planet,the machinery industry has reliedon devices, methods and techniquesthat are often the result of integra-tion processes that can occur in dif-ferent parts of the planet.

To illustrate the actual situationin Brazil, a few examples regard-ing machinery industries and theadoption of their products by theproduction sector are considered asfollows:• First, Embrapa in 2017 delivered

a smart sensor to the productionsector to help control the applica-tion of herbicides. The sensor wasorganized ando developed on thebasis of direct injection systems,where the spraying response timeplays an important role in thequality of spraying, particularlywhen operating in real time.

• Second, the Smart Sensing Brasilcompany has brought to the mar-ket, directly from the Netherlands,a precision spraying system inwhich the main focus is to avoidthe waste of phytosanitary prod-ucts. It works by emitting a beamof light, capable of recognizingwhether the weed is alive or notand carrying out a chemical herbi-cide application to combat weeds.

• Third, meetings were held inBrazil such as the initiatives pro-moted by the Agrihub connection,which was organized by the Fed-eration of Agriculture and Live-stock of the state of Mato Grosso(Famato), in partnership with theNational Rural ApprenticeshipService (Senar), and the MatoGrosso Institute of Agricijlturaland Livestock Economy (lmea).They organized and facilitated thegathering of companies for tech-

nological innovations in agricul-ture, such as:• The IZagro Company recently

presented an application that as-sists in the control of pests anddiseases of various crops; it isan embedded digital tool thatseeks to connect producers intheir expertise and decisions.

• The CBC Negócios Companyhas presented its agribusinessmachinery marketing platformto automatically reduce commu-nication deficiencies betweenthe suppliers and rural produc-ers.

• The Stara and Falker companieshave commercialized an agri-cultural implement with a sen-sor that measures the apparentelectricalconductivity of thesoil. To make these measure-ments feasible in difficult andinaccessible areas.

Also, Embrapa delivered a por-table intelligent technology device.The readings obtained by this sensorcorrelate well with the physical at-tributes of soils, such as the textureand organic matter. Furthermore,the use of new sensors has aideddecision makers in the generationof maps that can be used for man-agement and soil sampling becausezones with similar characteristicscan be visualized in the propertymaps.

In fact, there are also sensors thatare already available on the marketthat make it possible to performchemical analyses of soils, such asthose made available by the Soil-Cares company, which uses spec-troscopy techniques to recommendthe fertilization to be carried out onthe properties.

Other research areas that havebeen stimulated are the use of var-ied sowing rates and the utilizationof GNSS embedded into agricul-tural implements. Once manage-ment zones are delimited withincrops with more productive areas,one management strategy is to sowvaried populations of seeds and

even different hybrids. In this con-text, a market solution was foundby the Topcon company, whichaccommodates the entire sowingprocesso Such technology can allowthe customization of the operationspanel, i.e., using configuration wiz-ards to start the process, import themap coverage, schedule the variablerate control of fertilizers or otherproducts, and even decide how toprioritize the sowing process of thefield. Some of those machines canalready be operated 24 hours a day,thereby widening the short plantingand harvesting windows. The latteryields productivity gains.

Along the same direction, the newJohn Deere tractors or even thosedeveloped by the Case company,incorporate the latest generationof embedded technology. The newtractors are equipped with powerfuland economical engines, and auto-matic gearboxes with more than 23combinations of gears. They featureadvanced technologies, such as airsuspension seats to reduce impacts,light emitting diode (LED) head-lights and 3600 xenon headlights tofacilitate night work, autopilot andbedside maneuver assistance, audiopackages with several speakers, uni-versal serial bus (USB) inputs, aux-iliary and external antenna, heatersand air conditioning systems withautomatic temperature controls anddigital monitors for the fuel levei,engine temperature and rpm.

Furtherrnore, it is also importantto mention the Canadian companyMassey Ferguson, which is engagedin the production of agriculturalmachinery and operates in Brazil inassociation with the AGCO group.In recent years, they have launcheda new motor-driven sprayer withelectronic management, as well as ahybrid harvester either with a cabinor with a platform, all with featuressuch as an electronic engine, 12-speed mechanical gearbox with me-chanical or hydraulic reversing, au-topilot option, manual gearbox with12 gears forward and five aft, au-

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tomatic transmission and ability tosimultaneously operate implementsin the front and rear. In 2018, theAGCO group has also introduced anexclusive production line of Masseyand Valtra sprayers with versionsfor sugarcane and grain to the Bra-zilian production sector. In fact,they have presented innovations intheir new grain harvester, as well assevera 1 tractors with mechanical orelectrohydraulic reversal.

Moreover, other examples to bementioned are those from the JactoCompany, which occurred in 2017,when they launched sprayers thatincluded the concept of the Internetof Things (loT), making it pos-sible to connect the sprayers to theworldwide network of computers.The company has also consideredcooperating with the AutomotiveAir Pollution Control Program (Pro-conve), which sets emission limitsfor pollutant gases for agriculturaland road machinery,

On the other hand, in the field ofmachines for animal husbandry,another interesting example is thatof the Casale Company, which hasa complete line of intelligent mixersin its portfolio that improve the effí-ciency of the cattle rancher, such asa forage harvester, feed distributorand manure equipment.

Among all the mixers in Brazil,there is an equipment that is widelyused, as it has uniform and preciseself-loading silage technology thatdoes not damage the silo. A technol-ogy is designed involving the mill-ing with knives and an automaticdrive for all types of bulk materialfacilitates this stage of the opera-tion without waste occurring in thesilage and the distribution processo

AIso, harvesting and threshingmachinery, straw and forage press-es, lawn mowers, grain cleaningmachines, and innovative sortingmachines for eggs, fruits and otheragricultural products haverbeenmade available by small or mediumcompanies operating in Brazil.Among them are also machines and

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equipment for horticulture, poultryand beekeeping, including gerrni-nators with mechanical or thermaldevices and incubation and poultrybreeding facilities.

In addition, another innova-tive agricultural machine that wasmade available by Embraer to theagricultural sector in Brazil is anew version of agricultural aircraftcertified to fly utilizing ethanol andwith the capacity to realize wideraerial spray bands via an automatedsystem to minimize the occurrenceof drift during applications of pesti-cides.

Lastly, at present, there is still alarge dependence on the interna-tional market with regards to accessto UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles),UASs (unmanned aerial systems),and drone technologies, i.e., custom-ized to be used in Brazilian agri-culture. Regarding to UAV researchareas, despite the efforts in researchand development already made, notonly by Embrapa but ais o by mostof the important Brazilian universi-ties, the production sector has so faracquired such innovative solutionsfrom the international market.

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farm gates. Bruxelas: EuropeanAgricultural Machinery IndustryAssociation, 2016. Disponívelem: <https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture- food/opin ion/farming-a-O-digital-technology-at-the-farm-gates/>. Acesso em:20 jul. 2018.

ASSOCIAÇÃO BRASILEIRA DEENGENHARIA AGRÍCOLA.Conheça a SBEA. Disponívelem: <https://www.sbea.org.br/>.Acesso em: 16 ago. 2018.

BARROS, J. R. M. de; RIZZIERI,J. A. B.; PICCHETTI, P. Effectsof agricultural research on theconsumer. In: BARBOSA, M. M.T. L. (Ed.). Impacts ofthe agricul-tural sector technological change

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BRAZILIAN AUTOMOTIVEINDUSTRY ASSOCIATION.Brazilian automotive industryyearbook 2017. São Paulo, 2017.Disponível em: <http://www.an-favea.com.br/index.html>. Acessoem: 26 novo 2018.

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MANTOVANI, E. C.; HERM-MANN, P. R.; COELHO, J. L. D.Maquinas e implementos agríco-las. In: ALBUQUERQUE, A. C.S.; SILVA, A. G. da (Ed.). Agri-cultura tropical: quatro décadasde inovações tecnológicas, insti-tucionais e políticas. Brasília, DF:Embrapa Informação Tecnológica,2008. p. 1153-1168.

MANTOVANI, E. C.; NÂÂS, I. A.;HERMMANN, P. R. The futureof mechanization: trends andrequirements for the Latin-Amer-ican countries: Brazil case. In:LATIN AMERICAN MEETINGOF THE CLUB OF BOLOGNA,l.2000, Fortaleza. Proceedings ...Fortaleza; [s.n.], 2000. p. 13-28.

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AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATlON IN ASIA, AFRICA AND LATlN AMERICA 2019 VOL.50 NO.2