Embrapa Cerrados

This research unit aims to provide technological, competitive and sustainable solutions for the Cerrado region and also to gain information, preserve and use its biodiversity rationally.

With an infrastructure which includes 12 laboratories, a greenhouse, nurseries and seed processing units, its 93 researchers work in collaboration with institutions in Brazil and overseas. Some examples of these accomplishments are - new and cheaper forms of animal food, new high productivity forages, integration between agriculture and livestock breeding for the renewal of grazing lands, increase use of the native flora of the Cerrado and the reduction of harvest loss by climatic factors.

Activities

• Characterization, potential use, preservation and conservation of natural resources
• Agroclimatic zoning
• Development and improvement of agriculture and livestock breeding production systems
• Development of production systems that are more compatible with the Cerrado ecosystem

Services

• Technical assistance in evaluation of natural resources: vegetation, soil and water
• Soil mapping
• Agroecological zoning
• Consulting services and technical assistance in the use of natural resources and in agriculture and livestock breeding production systems

Products

• Selected cultivars
• Soil, plant and seed analysis
• Disease and nematodes diagnosis
• Specialized publications

Major Research Areas

• Characterization of the biodiversity and the environmental supply of the Cerrado ecosystem
• Development of cultivars adapted to the conditions of the Cerrado
• Development and efficient use of raw materials
• Recovery of degraded areas and revegetation of forests along river banks
• Utilization of ornamental, fruit trees, medicinal and wood species of the Cerrado
• Development of technologies adapted to family agriculture