Emater encourages farmers in Aurora do Pará to cultivate malva as a source of income
Natural fiber from the Amazon is the goal of a partnership between Emater and the Castanhal Textile Company (CTC)
As a farmer, Eurides dos Santos, 56 years old, better known as "Pio", has already removed a lot of malva, a native Amazonian plant, from the way in order to "clean" the land before planting cassava - the main activity on the 25 hectares of Sítio Santa Rosa, in the community Fé em Deus, in Aurora do Pará, on the Rio Capim: "That was what we considered at the time. Most of it we discarded in the woods anyway," he reports.
Currently, Pio has already started harvesting seeds on a hectare exclusively for malva, under a project guided by the local office of the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company of the State of Pará (Emater), in partnership with the Castanhal Textile Company (CTC).
"I myself am very excited because we can already see that it will have a future, it is a business that is on the right track and that we intend to continue," he says.
A cooperation agreement between the Government of Pará and the private initiative in effect since 2022 provides for the protagonism of 182 families of small and medium farmers from northeastern Pará in the recomposition in nine municipalities of a valuable production chain due to the fiber, a product of high industrial demand.
The municipalities covered, in addition to Aurora do Pará, are Capitão-Poço, Dom Eliseu, Nova Esperança do Piriá, Mãe-do-Rio, Paragominas, São Miguel do Guamá, São Domingos do Capim, and Ulianópolis. With a guarantee of total and immediate purchase of the seeds by CTC, the estimated profit for each family, over one hectare, is R$ 10,000.
"Here in Aurora, we are experiencing a transformation of understanding, a re-signification: a plant that was seen as invasive, as a pest, as a 'lowering' of pasture quality for cattle, is re-emerging as a public policy for diversification of activities, income generation, and sustainable agro-industrialization," points out the head of the local Emater office in Aurora do Pará, Paulo Sydney Vieira.
Sidney is a technician in agriculture, an administrator, and a mathematician, specializing in Teaching Methodologies. This September, he is leading technical demonstrations of optimized harvesting methods, in a collective format. The actions are part of the technical assistance schedule provided by the Emater team of specialists.
In the municipality, 13 families from the communities Fé em Deus, São Raimundo do Matupiriteua, and Santana do Capim are being directly supported throughout the year, with technical assistance from Emater, supply of inputs by CTC, and support with tractor and harrow from the City Hall.
Emater's expectation is to expand participation in 2026, with the Bom Jesus community and at least 25 more families.
Text by Aline Miranda
