With support from a project by Emater, guava planter from Dom Eliseu receives a car
Emater contributed to the rural worker's access to the Mais Alimentos line of the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf)
With the support of the local office of the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company of the State of Pará (Emater) in Dom Eliseu, on the Rio Capim, farmer Antônio Arrais, 63, can now work with more mobility: the family has just acquired a car, through the rural credit project, worth R$ 97 thousand, in partnership with the Bank of the Amazon (Basa). The contract is from the Mais Alimentos line of the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf).
With the pickup truck, the guava planter, better known as “Fogoió,” due to his reddish hair, can now transport fruits and supplies on his own and also travel personally to close deals, such as in the neighboring supply hub municipality of Imperatriz, Maranhão.
Antônio Arrais's property, Sítio Santa Clara, is located eight kilometers down a dirt road at Km 4 of the Br-010 Highway. Until now, trips were made with the help of third parties or incurred extra expenses for rentals, loans, and freight.
“The car came at the right time and is of great use. I take the boxes to the farm, pick up oil in town - and so on. It meets many of our daily needs,” says Fogoió, who received the vehicle on the 17th of this month.
According to the head of the local Emater office in Dom Eliseu, agricultural technician Raimundo Salazar, a vehicle is an asset that changes the reality in the countryside: “It is extremely important. It contributes to structuring the operational capacity of the farmer and the property, in terms of timely and satisfactory production flow and transportation of fertilizers, pesticides, and goods,” he points out.
Guava
The nearly 24 hectares of Sítio Santa Clara, in Colônia Paraíso, have 1,300 guava trees of the “paluma” type, in addition to plantings of açaí and corn and raising sheep, cattle, and free-range chickens.
The guava is the flagship of the production and is intended in natura or in pulp form mainly for the markets of the capital Belém and Imperatriz.
Served by Emater for 26 years, Fogoió has accumulated more than 20 consecutive rural credit projects developed by the Technical Assistance Company: with resources from public policy, he built a warehouse for product storage and an artesian well for crop irrigation, as well as purchased a tractor.
“Emater is a unique collaboration. It has always been present. More than collaboration, I say it is friendship,” summarizes farmer Antônio Arrais.
Text by Aline Miranda
