Argentina and the American continent are called upon to play a leading role in food security and the sustainability of agriculture, says Manuel Otero, director general of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). "It is an opportunity that we should not miss," he explained in his speech at the CREA 2022 Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The director of IICA explained that there are four major trends that permeate the agricultural sector of Latin American nations, the first being the progressive reduction of the weight of primary production. On the other hand, storage, transportation, transformation, distribution and financing systems are growing.

The second relevant aspect, Otero points out, is the consolidation of the concept of "bioeconomy". This trend points to the recognition of the rural environment as a space for the creation of economic and social wealth through innovation and technology.

The third key issue is to position the agricultural sector as part of the solution to the climate change problem, points out the Director General of IICA. According to him, this is the proposal that the Institute will bring to the next United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 27), to be held in Egypt next November.

In this event, in which the future of collective actions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions will be defined, IICA is committed to demonstrating the advances of good agricultural practices such as no-tillage, cover crops, pasture planning and ILPF (Forest Livestock Crop Integration) systems.

The obejtivo is to show that the field has essential resources to cushion the impact of climate change through carbon sequestration. "In the next COP 27, which is already known as the COP of agriculture, we cannot let the negotiation be in the hands of environmentalists – it has to have our seal," he said. 

The last factor mentioned by the leader is the technological convergence from the innovations generated by the interaction of agronomy, biology and informatics. This process is enhanced by expanding process digitization and increasing connectivity coverage, which enables more efficient and faster feedback of data that generates valuable information to produce useful knowledge.

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture is the specialized agency for agriculture of the Inter-American System that supports the efforts of the 34 member states to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being.

Source: Agrolink