www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Brazil and China have signed three research and technology agreements for
agriculture since 2003 and should increase that cooperation, the supervisor
for cooperation at Brazilian farming institute, Embrapa, Bonifácio Magalh?es
told Macauhub.
?We increased relations with Chins in 2003 when we signed the memorandum
with the Chinese Academy for Agricultural Sciences and that cooperation is
moving along,? said Magalh?es, who was in Beijing last week, with a mission
from the Brazilian Foreign Relations Ministry.

That mission is preparing a Chinese-Brazilian meeting for technological and
scientific cooperation, scheduled to be held in Brazil in December.

One of the agreements recently signed by Embrapa, a body linked to the
Ministry of Agriculture, is the partnership with the Chinese Academy of
Science (CAS) for exchange of genetic material, biotechnology training,
mainly in growing cotton, fruit, vegetables, wheat and soy.

Another agreement was made official with the Chinese National Rice Research
Institute (CNRRI), which last year became Embrapa?s partner. Also in 2006,
the Brazilian institution signed a memorandum with Longyan University for
cooperation in the area of edible and medicinal mushrooms.

Magalh?es told Macauhub that the next steps in the partnership with China
would be an agreement in the area of genetically-modified cotton, which
would be signed with Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

?China still has a lot to offer us, such as genetic material, and we have a
lot to offer, such as in the area of precision agricultures,? said
Magalh?es.

?We are going to make adjustments and keep up with what has already been
arranged. As we fulfil agreements that we have already made, new
opportunities will emerge and we will move ahead. Embrapa?s aim is to
increasingly strengthen cooperation with China,? he said.

[www.macauhub.com.mo]