Good Living: Collective rice harvest increases production of

Maranhão was once one of the largest rice producers in the country, but with areas invaded by monocultures and poison, production was threatened.

If, on the one hand, the state has alarming rates of monoculture cultivation of eucalyptus, soybeans and corn for export, on the other, settlements of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) resist and invest in the production of agroecological food, with the resumption of of gardens and collective harvests.

In the month of struggle for Agrarian Reform, April, the Good Livingprogram of Brazil in fact, shows how MST’s agroecological rice in Maranhão is growing.

“We are very proud of this moment, this historic moment for the MST in its 40 years, starting the rice harvest and thanks, everything went well, the rice is at harvest point. And even more historic is that we are returning to the time of collective work, of collective harvesting in the fields and this for us is very gratifying”, says José Wanderlei Silva, farmer and president of the Agricultural Production Cooperative of Producers of the Baixada Maranhense Microregion ( Coopervid).

Practically the entire state produces rice, but today the settlements in the lowlands of Maranhão, close to São Luís, stand out especially, such as Cristina Alves, Belém and Diamante Negro Jutaí.

“Family farming has, throughout its existence, used rice as an essential product on the farmers’ table, which is why it has never stopped producing, through the field on the stump, the hoe, the sickle and the machete as our work tools initially”, explains Alzerina Montello, from the MST national directorate.

She also reinforces that the movement has insisted on dialogue with governments and partners, so that families settled under agrarian reform have access to credit and means of production using technological equipment.

An example of the advancement of MST production in the state is the collective harvest of the Diamante Negro Jutaí Settlement, in the municipality of Igarapé do Meio, which involves more than 15 families and is expected to harvest more than 80 tons of rice, with the expectation of doubling the production in the next harvest, thanks to collective work.

“This collective work is the merit of the community, which understood the need to work on production with a larger volume, understood the importance of the experience they already had in rice cultivation in previous years”, explains Simião Maranhão, rural worker from the Diamante Negro Jutaí settlement .

According to him, more and more families have joined production, based on the good harvests in recent years and the partnerships that have been established. “That’s why I believe that this is a good example situation and, in the next harvest, in the coming years, I believe that we will even increase the amount of area worked, because several other farmers are seeing this here as a lever that is coming, or that it has already arrived to encourage other teammates.”

Families also receive technical support from settled agronomists trained in the National Agrarian Reform Education Program, Pronera. “Today we are collectively harvesting with our companions and we expect a productivity of 80 tons from the total fields and this is one of the crops we are working on. But we also work with cassava, beans, pumpkins and more”, comments Lucas Machado, settler and agronomist.

The production supplies the Armazém do Campo de São Luís, open-air markets in nearby cities, in addition to ensuring access to food bank programs such as the National School Meal Program (Pnae). To enhance production, they have purchased equipment for collective use and received, this April, two mechanized harvesters, through international cooperation between Brazil and the China Agrarian University for agricultural development in the Northeast.

O Good Living also does a gastronomic tour in São Paulo only of places that sell peasant agriculture, including the inauguration of the new Armazém do Campo. Check out!

‘Dorival Caymmi: A man of affections’

The documentary premiered this Thursday (25) in cities across all regions of the country. Dorival Caymmi – a man of affection celebrates the 110 years of life that the Bahian composer would have completed this week. At the Cultural Mosaic you can find out everything about Daniela Broitman’s production, which has already toured the world at film festivals and is now hitting the big screen in the country.

With an unpublished interview with Caymmi recorded in 1998 — which was lost due to a fire in the production company responsible for the document — the film also features Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and the composer’s children, Danilo, Nana and Dori.

And there’s more…

With so much encouragement, we weren’t going to fail to share a delicious recipe. On today’s program, chef Gema Soto brings the spring salad.

And the Welcome Map welcomes actions to guarantee women’s rights in Rio de Janeiro (RJ).

When and where to watch?

On YouTube Brazil in fact every Saturday at 1:30 pm, there is a new program. Just click here.

On TVT: Saturday at 1:30 pm; with reruns on Sunday at 6:30 am and Tuesday at 8 pm on channel 44.1 – open HD digital signal in Greater São Paulo and channel 512 NET HD-ABC.

On TV Brasil (EBC), Monday at 6:30 am.

On TVCom Maceió: Saturday at 10:30 am, with a repeat on Sunday at 10 am, on NET channel 12.

On TV Floripa: Saturday at 1:30 pm, reruns throughout the program, on channel 12 of NET.

On TVU Recife: Saturdays at 12:30 pm, with reruns on Tuesdays at 9 pm, on channel 40 UHF digital.

On TVE Bahia: Saturday at 12:30 pm, with a repeat on Thursday at 7:30 am, on channel 30 (7.1 on the device) of the digital signal.

On UnBTV: Fridays at 10:30 am and 4:30 pm, in Brasília on Channel 15 on NET.

TV UFMA Maranhão: Thursday at 10:40 am, on open channel 16.1, Sky 316, TVN 16 and Claro 17.

Tune in

On the radio, the Bem Viver program airs from Monday to Friday, from 11 am to 12 pm, with repeats on Sundays, at 10 am, on Rádio Brasil Atual. The tune is 98.9 FM in Greater São Paulo and 93.3 FM in Baixada Santista.

The program is also broadcast on Rádio Brasil de Fato, from 11am to 12pm, Monday to Friday. The Bem Viver program is also on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Itunes, Pocket Casts and Deezer platforms.

Editing: Marina Duarte de Souza