Representative of the Ministry of Agriculture asserts that actions for the development of canola wil

Canola is an excellent vegetable oil crop for biodiesel production

"I will make my efforts to develop canola," asserted the chief of Strategic Management Office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Cattle and Supply (MAPA) Derli Dossa, on Friday (11/05), when visiting the unit of biodiesel production of BSBIOS, in Passo Fundo/RS. Dossa was in the town visiting entities, institutions and companies to collect information, aiming at the elaboration of the new plan of rural policies for Rio Grande do Sul that will focus on actions which will be developed within the next 10 years.

The coordinator of the Improvement Department of BSBIOS and managing vice-president of the Brazilian Association of Canola Producers (ABRASCANOLA) Fábio Junior Benin emphasized that canola still has some issues that need support from MAPA to solve them. "We need to develop some aspects to improve growth, that is, the improvement of genetic material, harvest technology and record of pesticides," said Benin.

Dossa seemed to be concerned about gauchas land idleness during the winter and, when visiting the biodiesel industry, he became aware of the necessary issues to the development of canola. "Here we have a crop which has guaranteed market, and also with the help of the ministry can enlarge growth areas during the winter period," asserted the representative of MAPA. According to data from Embrapa-Trigo, the state has approximately four million hectares of fallow areas in winter.

Canola is an excellent vegetable oil crop for biodiesel production, and it contains around 38% of oil. BSBIOS, in 2011, improved approximately 25 thousand hectares in the three states of the south and the expectation for this year is to grow 30% the area planted with Canola. According to the agro-climatic zoning, in Rio Grande do Sul, the period indicated for planting is from 11 of April to 30 of June.