The Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), the Foundation for Technology and Science (FATEC), and the Tritícola Santa Rosa Ltda. (Cotrirosa) cooperative have signed a Research, Development and Innovation (R&D) partnership agreement to implement the "Strategies and Governance in the Pisciculture Value Chain in Rio Grande do Sul" project. The initiative aims to produce scientific information that helps the cooperative evaluate opportunities in the sector.
Coordinated by Professor Rafael Lazzari, from the Department of Zootecnia at UFSM, the project brings together the Department of Zootecnia in Santa Maria and the UFSM Postgraduate Program in Agriculture, at the Palmeira das Missões campus. The work aims to support decisions related to the development of pisciculture in the state.
The central objective is to study a governance model for pisciculture that can be used as a tool for decision-making and for analyzing the viability of businesses. To this end, the team will conduct data collection, market studies and evaluations of the different links in the value chain, with special attention to tilapia, the main fish species cultivated in the country.
The points analyzed include the technical, economic, logistical and environmental feasibility of establishing a fish feed factory and the possible impacts of installing a tilapia processing industry. The project will also investigate integration models and contractual structures between cooperatives and associated producers.
The research should also identify consumer profiles, fish consumption patterns, and wholesale and retail distribution channels in the state. Other studies will be directed towards equipment, inputs, and fingerling suppliers, as well as certifications and standards necessary to access export markets and large international buyers.
The proposal emerged from Cotrirosa's interest in diversifying its activities and the identification of the potential of aquaculture as a new business model. According to Luís Eduardo Carvalho Noskoski, a doctoral student in the Postgraduate Program in Agriculture and a scholarship recipient of the project, the chain still lacks coordination in Rio Grande do Sul, despite the growth of the activity in the country.
"Our role is to prospect the market, understand this dynamics through research, create tools for decision-making, and conduct feasibility studies," explains Noskoski, who also works in the Innovation Department of Cotrirosa.
Aquaculture as an alternative source of income in rural areas
The structuring of the chain can represent a diversification alternative for rural producers, especially in light of the difficulties faced by traditional agricultural and livestock activities due to droughts and floods.
"If the cooperative enters and structures this chain, we will have a new business and the possibility of economic and social development, with generational succession of families and the permanence of producers in the region," says Noskoski.
The initiative also brings the university closer to the productive sector by directing scientific knowledge to a demand presented by the cooperative. UFSM makes its infrastructure, researchers and students available for the conduct of studies, while Cotrirosa monitors the execution of activities and contributes to the development of research. FATEC will be responsible for the administrative and financial management of project resources.
For the students involved, the partnership allows them to have contact with real situations in the productive sector during their academic training. At the same time, the cooperative will have access to analyses based on scientific methods, producing information that can reduce uncertainties and support its evaluation of potential investments.
The activities will be carried out in stages, starting with the bibliographic review and the collection of secondary data. Subsequently, the team will conduct a diagnosis of the aquaculture chain, collect and analyze data, and prepare technical reports. The results should indicate which links in the chain the cooperative can operate in and which business model offers the best conditions for development in the medium and long term.
In addition to the information intended for Cotrirosa's decision-making, the project provides for the production of monthly reports, presentations at scientific events, and the publication of at least one article in a Qualis A Interdisciplinary journal. The research should contribute to studies on governance, cooperative integration, and the management of production chains, in addition to expanding UFSM's participation in initiatives aimed at regional development.
Gabriela Alves, journalism scholarship student
Debora Seminoti Tamiosso, Proinova Communications