By CCA communication
The producers of the PIPC (Conscious Producer Investment Program) of the Cerrado das Águas Consortium have recently demonstrated that sustainability is a path to achieving quality with their rankings in the main regional and national competitions. With their good placings, the producers proved that the two paths converge and that one supports the other.
Among the winners is PIPC producer José Augusto Guimarães. He owns property in the ribeirão Grande basin, in Serra do Salitre, and came second in the Natural category of the 11th Cerrado Mineiro Region Awards, held in Uberlândia on November 30. The award is one of the main quality awards in the country and in 2023 it received 500 samples entered in three categories: Natural, Peeled Cherry and Induced Fermentation. The Natural category is the most competitive, with 225 samples entered alone, and José Augusto became runner-up, taking home yet another trophy, since in October, during the Expocaccer Champions Stage, he won first place in the same category.
José Augusto Guimarães came 2nd in the 11th Cerrado Mineiro Region Awards
Also on November 30, during the 11th Cerrado Mineiro Region Awards, the PIPC producer received the Conscientious Producer Recognition. A tribute promoted by the Federation of Coffee Growers of the Cerrado, organizer of the awards, to publicly recognize the efforts of the producers of the Cerrado das Águas Consortium to invest in Climate Smart Agriculture practices, with an emphasis on regenerative agriculture practices aimed at caring for the soil and producing water, making production more resilient to climate change.
Recognition of Conscientious Producers during the 11th Cerrado Mineiro Region Awards
"The Cerrado das Águas Consortium is the Cerrado Coffee Growers' Federation's biggest bet on the strategic pillar of Sustainability, to guarantee sustainable production landscapes and water production in our region, as benefits of the environmental services that the consortium promotes, both for producers and for the population, which today has already benefited more than 100,000 people directly. Because of the Consortium's relevance to our region, we decided to recognize the work of the participating producers, who are playing their part in combating climate change and producing water," says Juliano Tarabal, executive director of the Federation of Coffee Growers of the Cerrado, which is one of the entities that make up the collaborative platform of the Cerrado das Águas Consortium and one of its founders.
Sustainability scoring points for quality
Among the Climate Smart and Regenerative Agriculture practices adopted, José Augusto invests in inter-row planting with green manure plants; the use of biological control; windbreaks and intercropping. This investment in nature was reflected in the production of a coffee with 89.34 points, which was auctioned off during the event and had its bag sold for R$19,000 reais by Expocaccer, Bourbon and FG Corretagens.
This is recognition for the efforts of José Augusto, who invests in inter-row planting with green manure plants, the use of biological control, windbreaks and intercropping. Like him, other producers who are part of the PIPC, also from the ribeirão Grande basin in Serra do Salitre, have stood on the podium of quality competitions.
Maria Soraia Guimarães, a coffee grower, also showed that sustainability is an ally of specialty coffees on her family's property. By investing in strategies in partnership with the CCA, such as inter-row planting with green manure plants and efficient use, the producer brought to the awards she participated in the flavors of a harvest focused on caring for natural resources to achieve special grades, which resulted in first place in the sixth edition of the Florada Premiada contest and third place in the Natural category of the Expocacer Champions Stage, as well as being one of the finalists in the 11th Cerrado Mineiro Region Award.
Along with Soraia, in her quest for sustainability as a generator of quality production, is her son, Augusto Ferreira Guimarães, also a PIPC producer. Adopting the same practices, he won 11th place in the Natural Cerrado Category in the Cup Of Excellence; first place in the SENAR/FAEMG competition and was also one of the finalists in the 11th Cerrado Mineiro Region Award in the Induced and Natural Fermentation categories.
Maria Soaraia Guimarães and her son, Augusto Guimarães, receive an award during the Expocaccer Champions Stage.
The ribeirão Grande basin has once again proved that it is not only a micro-region that thrives on quality, but also that its producers invest heavily in sustainability. PIPC producer Éder dos Reis Machado knows this and has combined post-harvest techniques to achieve quality with regenerative coffee-growing strategies such as inter-row planting with green manure plants and biological control. As a result, he came third in the Natural category in the Carpec Champions Stage, qualified for the national Cup of Excellence stage and was one of the finalists in the 11th Cerrado Mineiro Region Award.
All the achievements in quality awards and the "Conscious Producer" recognition strengthen the work developed by the CCA in watersheds since 2019 and reaffirm the purpose of the collaborative platform to join forces for resilient and intelligent agriculture in the Cerrado Mineiro, working directly with producers, society, companies and public authorities.
Eder Reis receives an award during the Carpec Champions Stage
"Recognition is a very important action for the producer and for the Consortium. There are various forms of recognition, so reaping the benefits of the actions applied in CCA strategies is one, through knowledge of nature itself and the consequence is the environmental results on the properties of PIPC producers. The public recognition that the Federation of Coffee Growers of the Cerrado has given is very important, because it values the work of the producer and the Consortium as well, since the producers have adopted the strategies and believe that they are positive, generating positive impacts. Thus, recognition is for everyone's work and when the Federation, the entity that leads the Cerrado Mineiro region, takes an initiative like this, it's another sign that the Consortium is on the right track," says Marcelo Urtado, coffee grower and president of the Cerrado das Águas Consortium.
About the CCA
Created in 2015 in Patrocínio - MG, the Cerrado das Águas Consortium aims to join forces to implement Climate Smart and Regenerative Agriculture strategies that guarantee the provision of ecosystem services in order to achieve a productive system that is resilient to climate change.
The initiative has the following companies as associate members: Nescafé, Expocaccer, Nespresso, Lavazza, Cooxupé, Cofco, Volcafe, NKG Stockler, Daterra, Federação dos Cafeicultores do Cerrado, CerVivo and Starbucks Farmer Support Center. In addition, the platform has key partners such as Serra do Salitre City Hall and Coromandel City Hall.