FT Sementes and the Expansion of Soybeans in Brazil

Abstract

In Paraná State, research to develop new soybean cultivars began in 1964, at the Experimental Station of Ponta Grossa. Initially, the study included a small number of cultivars introduced from the United States. Later, other American soybean lines were introduced through collaboration agreements with universities located further South and center of the United States, such as the universities of Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina, which provided materials with good adaptation to the South Region of Brazil. In 1972, after years working for the Brazilian Federal Government, coordinating research and development of soybean cultivars in South of Brazil, Francisco Terasawa founded FT Pesquisa e Sementes in Londrina, in North of Paraná State. The frost in the coffee region of Northern Paraná, together with better adapted and more productive cultivars, such as Bragg, Davis, IAS-1, IAS-4, IAS-4, IAS-5, Paraná, Mineira and Visoja, accelerated and facilitated the dissemination of soybean crop in Paraná. The cultivar FT CRISTALINA was one of the first releases of FT Pesquisa e Sementes, and, over time, it started to be called by farmers as the “Queen of the Cerrado.” This cultivar was one of the main pillars to make soybean production economically viable in the Brazilian Cerrado between the late 1970s and early 1990s. In addition, FT-ABYARA contributed significantly to soybean farming in the South Region and part of the Southwest region of Brazil, due to its good yield, lodging resistance and wide adaptation. At the time, it was considered the best grain-transforming line, that is, it featured the highest correlation of dry matter weight vs. grain weight. The international success of FT Pesquisa e Sementes has been proven by the wide diffusion of its cultivars in several Latin America countries, such as Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela and also in Africa, including countries like Mozambique, Angola and Ivory Coast. In 1995/1996 Monsanto acquired FT Pesquisa e Sementes’s soybean germplasm bank that was the first soybean germplasm trade transaction in Brazil. In 1997, the Plant Protection Law was approved in Brazil, which attracted more national and international seed companies to get involved in soybean breeding in Brazil, which generated numerous high-yielding soybean cultivars. Since its foundation, FT SEMENTES launched several non-GMO, glyphosate-resistant and Bt-tolerant soybean cultivars. In 2017, FT SEMENTES reached 45 years of history and will continue to work hard to compete in the globalized market of soybean cultivar development, always committed to meeting the farmers’ real needs.