The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) reported this Tuesday that it is analyzing the progress that has been made in Argentina on issues of environmental sustainability of agricultural production and ways to share these experiences with other Latin American countries.
The Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero, who is visiting Argentina, met with the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Argentina, Juan José Bahillo, to discuss carbon sequestration in grasslands and measurement of the footprint , reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, care for the health of soils and crop diversification.
Both representatives also discussed the need to deepen water resource management techniques, since a large part of the Argentine territory is currently suffering from a drought that will seriously affect agricultural production in 2023, with a strong impact on exports and gross domestic product ( GDP) of the country.
Both Bahillo and Otero exchanged information and points of view on issues related to mitigation, adaptation, and resilience in the face of the climate crisis, a phenomenon that is already impacting food production in Argentina and other countries in the Latin American region.
In this sense, they agreed to work together for the next United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP28), which will be held towards the end of the year, and for the positioning of agriculture in the Americas as part of the solution to the global environmental challenges.
As part of the agenda, Otero also held meetings with authorities from the Argentine Association of Direct Planting Producers (Aapresid) and the Regional Consortiums for Agricultural Experimentation (CREA), both are two groups of agricultural producers that focus on sustainability and in the use of good practices aimed at contributing to the mitigation of the climate crisis and the environmental conversation.
The vice president of Aapresid, Marcelo Torres, explained that they promote the sustainable production of food, fiber and energy through soil care and network innovation.
“From no-till we add complexity with other practices, such as weed suppression, integrated nutrient management, crop rotations, and the use of cover crops. Our goal is to scale up conservation agriculture. We have a lot to offer for producers from other countries to advance in integrating these models”, explained Torres.
For his part, the executive director of CREA, Cristian Feldkamp, expressed his conviction that Argentine agricultural production can produce a positive balance between emissions and carbon sequestration, and that the entity will begin to measure soil absorption to prove it.