Course proposal

The proposal to create a postgraduate program in the area of agricultural sciences is fundamental to meeting the demands of the State University of Maringá. Since 2002, the institution has had Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine courses at the Umuarama campus and Agricultural Engineering at the Cidade Gaúcha campus. Several graduates have gone on to postgraduate programs in different regions of the country, demonstrating their interest in research. In addition, the institution has always valued the verticalization of teaching, pointing to the importance of creating the proposed program.
Another important factor is regional development. Currently, the municipality of Umuarama is seen as a hub for university education. Within the agricultural sciences, the city has two agronomy courses and two veterinary medicine courses. It is also close to other municipalities with courses in the same area, such as Cidade Gaúcha, Campo Mourão, Marechal Cândido Rondon, Cascavel, among others.
As a result, the state has increasingly intervened to raise the educational level of the population, to boost the generation of technological innovations and to increase the competitiveness of its industries in products and services, whenever possible, with high added value through knowledge. In particular, with regard to pragmatic scientific and technological development aimed at innovation, governments have been creative in formulating fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to support the aforementioned actors, as well as developing mechanisms aimed at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of direct and indirect investments made.
The northwestern region of Paraná is strong in agriculture, horticulture, fruit-growing, forestry and farming, and increasingly needs well-qualified professionals to work in these areas.
In view of the above, the aim of creating the Postgraduate Program in Agricultural Sciences is to stimulate the development of Brazilian agribusiness through scientific and technological development, including by encouraging the transfer of knowledge generated both to companies in the private sector and to the government and civil society. In this context, it will be up to the Program to meet the demands of the agricultural sector by generating technological innovation; increasing the participation of private capital in R&D&I projects and encouraging a culture of intellectual protection and entrepreneurship in the area through the use of innovative solutions. One of the Program's challenges will be to encourage technological innovation and the renewal of the environment in the field in question.
The Agricultural Sciences Program will be made up of researchers who are agronomists, agricultural engineers and zootechnicians, trained at reputable universities throughout Brazil, demonstrating the diversification of viewpoints and experience of the teaching staff.
The aim is to train high-level human resources at postgraduate level, to work proactively in teaching and research. The creation of the Program is also intended to facilitate and program interactions between the various centers that will form a research network and, in particular, to stimulate interactions between established groups and those still emerging in the different regions of the country. Considering that agribusiness is a strategic issue for Brazil's socio-economic development, the research network will consolidate inter-institutional efforts to consolidate the knowledge generated and train new professionals in this specialty, who will certainly transfer this knowledge to the market and contribute to the country's development.
It is necessary to provide Brazilian agribusiness with methods, systems and technologies to meet internal and external demands. The Program therefore contributes to agribusiness through actions aimed at developing agronomic science for the different production chains, making it possible to increase productivity and product quality. It should be noted that increasing productivity and product quality will only be possible with the development of new technologies that respect the environment.
In the northwest of Paraná, there is a group of sandy soils called the Caiuá Sandstone, which occupies 16% (3.2 million hectares) of the state's total area of 20 million hectares. It is the most important livestock region in Paraná, with 2.3 million hectares of pastureland (72%) that supports, in its 107 municipalities, 36.5% of the state's cattle herd, estimated at 9.6 million head. However, it has soils with a high susceptibility to erosion which, due to their fragility and management, are in an advanced degree of physical and chemical degradation, with critical levels of organic matter. This highlights the need for research into the sustainability of this region.