Sustainable Development of Cocoa Cultivation is the Theme of the Forum at Chocolate Xingu
The program will take place on the 27th of this month in Altamira, with the participation of representatives from Sedap, producers, and specialists
Cocoa cultivation as a vector for sustainable development in the Xingu Region will be the theme of the Transamazon and Xingu Forum, which will take place on the 27th of this month, as part of the program for the International Chocolate and Cocoa Festival in Altamira. This is a partnership action between the Secretary of Agricultural Development (Sedap) and the Municipal Government of Altamira, the Chocolate Xingu will be held from the 26th to the 29th of this month at the Municipal Convention Center.
The Forum has already become an important part of the festival by bringing together producers, specialists from public entities that operate in the cocoa segment, and representatives from the Transamazon cooperatives. The program will open with welcome remarks from the state secretary of agricultural development and fishing, Giovanni Queiroz, and the mayor of Altamira, Loredan Melo. Also participating will be the superintendent of Ceplac-Pará (Executive Commission of the Cocoa Plantation Plan), Raul Guimarães, and the director of the State Secretariat of Family Agriculture (Seaf), Anderson Serra.
Among the topics to be presented and discussed at the forum are “Cocoa Cultivation in the State of Pará: Past, Present, and Future,” presented by Ceplac researcher Fernando Mendes and moderated by the fruit farming manager of Sedap, Geraldo Tavares, and “The Relationship Between Light and Shade in Cocoa Production,” which will be delivered by Professor Doctor Ivan Crespo da Silva from the Federal University of Paraná.
Knowledge - The festival serves as a tool to encourage producers – especially family farmers – to showcase their work, as evaluated by the head of Sedap, Giovanni Queiroz. Just like the Forum – which will also be an opportunity to acquire knowledge and to discuss and clarify doubts – the other activities of Chocolate Xingu, according to the manager, will show the strength of Pará's cocoa culture.
“We will repeat this event in Altamira because it stimulates those who already plant cocoa and work with chocolate, providing the beans for all of Brazil. It is a way to motivate them and guide them that it is possible to achieve quality gains,” highlighted Queiroz.
He noted that speakers and representatives linked to the productive sector will participate in the event, bringing “a new logic of managing their planted cocoa and improving the quality of the beans, guiding on fermentation and drying, capable of boosting family income.”
Experiences - For the mayor of Altamira, Loredan Mello, the forum will be an opportunity to learn about various experiences. “This exchange is essential for improving the quality of our beans, discussing moniliasis, production methods, cocoa fermentation, in addition to modern nursery techniques, which are now more sophisticated and efficient.”
According to the manager, the event will also be an opportunity to showcase the work of producers, both from the region and outside it. It will also present the more challenging side of this production, which is the daily life of those who live in the countryside, facing the sun and challenges, “but who today have received improvements with quality roads, especially in the Assurini region, in addition to access to health and education for the children of the settlers.”
The municipal manager highlighted the importance of the partnership between Sedap and the Municipality of Altamira, through the Municipal Secretary of Agriculture (Semagri), in organizing the chocolate and cocoa festival.
“For me, as the mayor of Altamira, it is a great joy, an emotion, and also an honor to participate in the Transamazon and Xingu Cocoa Cultivation Forum, alongside this great public figure, Dr. Giovanni Queiroz, who has been doing a beautiful and extraordinary job at the head of Sedap,” concluded the mayor.
