Cotton producers from the interior of PI meet with European and Japanese businesspeople

Photo: Reproduction/WhastApp

By Déssyca Barbosa (intern)

Review: Cidadeverde.com/picos

The municipality of Paulistana, 470 km from Teresina, hosted meetings this Monday (25) and Tuesday (26) with the participation of organic cotton producers and businesspeople from the European Continent (France, Germany, United Kingdom) and the Asian Continent (Japan). The meeting that took place in the Caraibeiras community, a rural area of ​​the city, aimed to expand investments in the aforementioned sector in the Chapada Vale do Itaim territory.

On the occasion, the businesspeople got to know the structure of the cotton production processing plant belonging to the Association of Rural Producers of Piauí Agroecológico (APROPRIA), located at the headquarters of Paulistana-PI.

The ecological cotton producer, Osvaldo Mamedio, highlighted that during the meeting strategies were discussed to expand regional production that is exported abroad.

“This visit was precisely to prove to the European continent and also to first world countries that the production process is truly completely organic and agroecological. What was agreed is that we will work to increase the number of producers to increase production, which in the previous year saw 13 tons sold”, said the producer.

Cotton production

The municipality of Paulistana-PI has the project “Cotton Production in an Agroecological System”, which is developed in partnership with the French company Vert and Diaconia. Its actions involve 103 producers from the cities of São Francisco de Assis-PI and Queimada Nova-PI.

Ecological cotton is produced by farmers in the communities: Abelha Branca, Caraibeira, Assentamento Cachoeira, Barro Vermelho and Quilombo Chupeiro. In São Francisco de Assis, production is carried out in the Lagoa do Juá, Barreiro Grande and Atrás da Serra communities and in Queimada Nova, in the Queimada Grande community.

Planting is carried out from November to February. In 2023, 13 tons of cotton were produced and sold, returning a financial value of more than 200 thousand reais to the association.