O desenvolvimento da agricultura do Brasil e o papel da Embrapa

This paper debates on modernization of Brazilian agriculture, presents the construction process of the sector's national innovation system and the role of Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), as well as shows Brazil's competitive insertion in the international market of agricultural goods. In between economics and pragmatism, the institutional organization of this successful agriculture's trajectory depended on the efforts of many people, but its implementation required the leadership of a visionary. Eliseu Alves is a man ahead of his time. He dared to dream and thought about the new. He faced resistances. However, wherever he has worked, he left his legacy. He transformed agricultural research through induced institutional innovation. He contributed to the formation of a generation of researchers, as well as created the modern science and technology system of the Brazilian agricultural sector. Thus, he contributed to tropical agriculture development, which expanded the supply of agricultural goods, decreased food prices and preserved the environment.