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Eat 3½ Bushels of Corn? Me?

by Odacir Klein

Perhaps you haven’t added it up, but with the per capita consumption of 99 lbs. of chicken and 33 lbs. of pork—and with corn being necessary to the production of those animal proteins—the average corn consumption, per  Brazilian, is 198 lbs, or about 3½ bushels per year.

In Europe, there are countries where per capita pork consumption is greater than 132 lbs. Each person eats 3½  bushels of corn per year just in pork.

In the United Arab Emirates, per capita poultry consumption is about 198 lbs. Each person, on average, eats 3½ bushels of corn, indirectly.

I insist on drawing your attention to these data because I think that, many times, association representatives may not be getting the picture that it’s only when each of these links of the production chain are generating income that all will be successful.

Thinking about producing corn with no concern as to consumers is a mistake.

In order to have production, you need to have productivity. And, for that, we need to constantly advance in the use of biotechnology.

These topics with be debated with Caio Rocha, Ag Policy Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, at the 4th National Corn Forum, to take place on March 5, starting at 2 pm, at Expodireto/Cotrijal, in Não-Me-Toque, Rio Grande do Sul.

So you may be thinking: I have nothing to do with corn production.  But at the same time, you’re a consumer of corn in the form of animal protein.

We aim to dive deep into such topics, with an eye to advancing public policies for the future, and seeking… immediate and needed solutions.

Odacir Klein has written in this space previously.