At the San Francisco Experimental Estate in the state of Para in northern Brazil, cocoa seedlings planted in large areas jump into people's eyes. A Brazilian agricultural technology enterprise named "Beautiful Earth" is active in this estate. In recent years, "Beautiful Land" has proposed and implemented a plan to help local farmers return their grazing to forests by planting economic trees, restoring rainforest vegetation that has been damaged due to long-term grazing, and increasing farmers' income instead of decreasing. Brazil is a major livestock country, and for many years, ranchers have been continuously cutting down trees in the Amazon rainforest to expand production. The Amazon rainforest, known as the "lungs of the Earth," has a huge area, but satellite images show that its area is continuously decreasing. How to save rainforests while ensuring that the interests of farmers are not affected and achieving sustainable development is a topic that the Brazilian government, local civil organizations, and businesses are constantly exploring. Recently, the reporter visited the San Francisco Experimental Estate. Valmier Ortega, the founder of "Beautiful Land", told reporters that although farmers believe that planting soybeans brings quick money, research shows that forestry yields 5 to 6 times higher than planting soybeans and 15 times higher than grazing. "On the one hand, many farmers do not master forest planting techniques; on the other hand, the supply chain and consumer market corresponding to forestry are relatively narrow, and farmers have concerns about the development of forestry.". According to Ortega, "Beautiful Earth" companies usually cooperate with local agricultural cooperatives and sign long-term contracts for 5 to 10 years or even 20 years. In the early stage, in addition to providing seedlings and maintenance technology to farmers, they can also provide start-up funds. After the trees planted by farmers are harvested, the company is responsible for selling the products. Cocoa is a crop with high economic value. The fruit pits can be used to make chocolate, and the white flesh can be consumed or pressed into juice for consumption. However, cocoa usually takes 3 years to produce fruit. To dispel the concerns of farmers, the agricultural technology experts of "Beautiful Earth" company not only helped farmers plant tropical trees such as cocoa and Asai palm trees, but also allowed them to plant bananas and cassava, which can be harvested in the same year, over the past three years. When farmers have income, they naturally have a passion for planting trees. "At the same time, banana and cassava plants can also be used as fertilizers to make the barren land more fertile due to years of grazing," Ortega said. After reasonable planting, the banana trees and cassava planted in the estate can be uprooted in 3 years, and the entire estate will be planted with higher economic value tropical trees such as cocoa and Asai palm trees. These trees are native species of the Amazon rainforest, suitable for growth and restoring the land to its original state. The fruit of the Asai palm tree, also known as Brazilian berries, is rich in nutrients such as vitamin C, phosphorus, calcium, and iron, and has significant antioxidant effects. In recent years, it has become popular in the international market. Ortega told reporters that although "Beautiful Earth" company has not been established for a long time, it has successfully completed the restoration of 2000 hectares of land to forests in Amazon and other regions. The company's goal is to complete an additional 8000 hectares of land renovation by 2025, and for this purpose, it will also expand its business in the agricultural state of Mato Grosso this year. After his third term as President of Brazil in early 2023, Lula once again prioritized protecting the Amazon rainforest for the government. Last year, the Brazilian government recommended“
Edit：YiJing Responsible editor：LiYi
Source：news.cn
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