Agricultural Research

A nonprofit applied-research organization known as the Fundação Bahia (Bahia Foundation) carries out varietal field trials of soybeans, corn and cotton in Western Bahia. The Foundation, funded by farmers, seed companies and agricultural chemical and input firms, works closely with researchers of EMBRAPA, the national agricultural research institution.

The Bahia Foundation holds field days each year at field trial sites on area farms. These events are heavily attended by local producers, who use the opportunity to interact one-on-one with agronomists of the Foundation, EMBRAPA and many private seed companies. The events sometimes include demonstrations of farm machinery and equipment by local dealers.

By North American and international standards, Western Bahian farmers are extraordinarily well-served by the Bahia Foundation. The Foundation focuses on a few commodities in a concentrated geographical area and continuously interacts with and gets feedback from local producers and consulting agronomists.

New and improved genetic materials move quickly from laboratories to research plots to farmer's fields. Several new soybean variety developed specifically for Western Bahia have been released to farmers. The Foundation is an impressive, efficient and highly functional applied-research system.