In an interview with the program Business Rootdo InfoMoney in partnership with , the founder of Mantiqueira, Leandro Pinto, stated that it is necessary to do and invest everything within the producer’s power – and the country’s – to fight against the possibility of infections in the agricultural world, to maintain sanity.
And Brazil has been a protagonist in this type of combat, with complex and updated protocols – something that draws attention even abroad, according to the executive. All of this ends up becoming an important competitive advantage for the Brazilian market.
The imponderable and learning
At the same time, the so-called imponderable must be taken into account. “We have to do our part, but we also have to pray. The virus is something that we don’t control, we can’t predict it so effectively, we don’t know when it arrives. But you have to, at least, if it one day happens, have a clear conscience that you did your best to avoid serial contamination”, reflected the executive.
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And being one of the last countries in the line of contamination, according to Leandro Pinto, helped to learn from the mistakes of others. “It’s much cheaper than learning from your own mistakes”, he highlighted.
The first case of bird flu on a commercial farm in the country’s history was recorded this year, but since June, the commercial flock has been free from contamination. “I think Brazil put on a show with this. The Ministry of Agriculture was very efficient in how they organized this whole mess.”
Difficulties in exporting eggs
The weight of egg exports to the Brazilian market is not as relevant when compared to other commodities, such as soybeans and coffee, for example. However, the sector saw significant growth this year. However, this specific case takes place in the context of the American market, which has suffered greatly from local cases of bird flu and consequent shortages of products on shelves and price increases.
According to the founder of Mantiqueira, this lack of greater expressiveness in the export market is due to a logistical difficulty. The shell egg, for consumption, which goes on people’s tables, cannot withstand very long journeys. And, even in cases of export, most of the time, these products are for industry, which will use them as inputs for the production of other items.
“In the United States, for example, for every three eggs produced, on average, one is broken to extract the white and/or yolk from it. Egg consumption is about freshness and then it has to be local production”, he explained.
