Sustainable agricultural revolution in Argentina: The powerful synergy between biological and digital innovation.

Raquel CHAN

In the analysis, the speakers highlight the potential of biotechnology to increase crop yield and resilience. They mention examples where the introduction of a gene from a sunflower to the Arabidopsis thaliana plant helped it withstand longer periods of water deficit. They also discuss how elite crop varieties have been successfully improved using biotechnology. Moreover, the speakers refer to the Wheat HB4 variety, which was developed using biotechnology and found to be carbon neutral.

The importance of collaboration and public-private partnerships in agricultural biotechnology is emphasized. The successful development of biotech crops is attributed to interdisciplinary collaboration, public-private partnerships, and state investments. The technologies developed have received approval in various countries, and the owning company has even reached the New York stock market.

Furthermore, the analysis highlights that small mechanical alterations can increase crop yield without the need for genetic modification. Applying weight to the stems of plants for 48 hours has shown to increase yield by up to 50%. This method has been successfully applied to various crops, including Chia and tomatoes. Additionally, it has been found to increase the plants’ resistance to fusarium, a lethal fungus.

The speakers stress the importance of investing in science and technology regardless of a country’s wealth status. They argue that such investment is crucial for the success of research and development. The need for a series of small revolutions in agriculture is also highlighted, rather than relying solely on a second Green Revolution. Argentina’s grain production is cited as an example, having tripled from 40 million tons in the 90s to 150 million tons today, thanks to small contributions, including GMO wheat.

The analysis also points out that investment in agriculture should be tailored to the specific needs of each country. Argentina, being an agricultural country, has focused on improving its agricultural sector. Additionally, it is noted that technology and digital advancements play a significant role in enhancing food production. Satellites and digital technologies are mentioned as vital tools in improving agricultural practices. The development of GMO wheat is cited as a positive example of how technology has increased food production.

Overall, the speakers argue that biotechnology, collaboration, investment in science and technology, small mechanical alterations, and digital advancements all contribute to enhancing crop yield, resilience, and food production. These conclusions highlight the importance of interdisciplinary approaches and tailored strategies to address the challenges faced in agriculture globally.

Audience

The discussion focused on several key topics related to agricultural technology. Firstly, there was a consensus that another technological revolution is needed to enhance crop production. It was noted that the Green Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s led to a significant increase in wheat and rice production. However, with the projected demand for crops in the future to feed a global population of 10 billion people, it was suggested that a new Technological Revolution is necessary to meet this challenge. The importance of inter-country cooperation for the rapid development of new agricultural technology was also emphasized. It was highlighted that many countries have established National Research Institutes, which could collaborate and share knowledge and resources to accelerate progress in this field. By promoting partnerships and sharing best practices, it is believed that advancements in agricultural technology could be achieved more efficiently and effectively.

Drawing young people into the agricultural technology field was another aspect discussed. Recognising that the agricultural sector needs young, talented individuals to drive innovation and growth, the need to attract and engage the younger generation in this field was highlighted. Specific strategies and initiatives to promote agriculture as an attractive career option were not explicitly discussed, but it was acknowledged as an important factor for the future development of agricultural technology.

The potential development of new GMOs for wheat was also mentioned. While there was a neutral sentiment towards GMOs, it was stated that there are concerns about the potential instability of GMOs. Despite this, it was noted that efforts are underway to develop new GMO wheat varieties, indicating ongoing research and attention in this area.

In addition to these topics, a query was raised regarding the data management of the ARSAT project. It was stated that the ARSAT project is responsible for handling the data, and the audience member sought clarification on who has access to the gathered satellite data and where it is located. Unfortunately, further details were not provided in the discussion summary.

Lastly, the discussion touched upon the difficulty faced by governments in deciding where to invest in research due to the constantly emerging fields. As various fields such as nanotechnology, blockchains, and genetic addition continue to emerge, governments face challenges in determining research priorities. This observation highlighted the complex nature of research investment decisions and the need for careful planning and consideration.

Overall, the discussion covered a range of important aspects related to agricultural technology. It emphasized the need for a new technological revolution, the significance of inter-country cooperation, the importance of attracting young talent, the potential for GMO development, and the challenges faced by governments in research investment decisions. However, it is worth noting that the summary lacked specific evidence or arguments supporting these points, which could have provided a more comprehensive understanding of the discussion.

Federico VILLEGAS

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), governments around the world provide over $800 billion in annual agricultural support. However, it is argued that a significant portion of this support is environmentally harmful. The negative sentiment arises from concerns about the impact of such support on the environment.

On the other hand, Argentina serves as a shining example of how agricultural practices can be made more ecologically sustainable. They believe that science, innovation, and the adoption of advanced technology are key to achieving this goal. By synergising efforts from both the public and private sectors, Argentina has been able to embrace advanced technology and implement best agricultural practices. This has led to improved productivity while still prioritising environmental conservation.

Argentina highlights several key factors that contribute to their success in agricultural sustainability and productivity. These factors include the enablement of regulatory frameworks, the development of new plant varieties, sustainable mechanisation practices, and the use of innovative digital applications. By leveraging these tools, Argentina believes they can not only achieve food security but also ensure the long-term sustainability of their agricultural sector.

In addition to sustainable domestic agriculture, Argentina also champions fair, transparent, market-oriented international agricultural trade. They argue that this model of trade can contribute to comprehensive food security and sustainability. By advocating for a rules-based and non-distorted trade system, Argentina aims to promote a level playing field for all countries involved in agricultural trade. This approach aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations.

In conclusion, the WTO reports that governments provide substantial agricultural support annually, but there are concerns about its environmental impact. Nonetheless, Argentina showcases the potential for more ecologically sustainable agriculture through science, innovation, and the adoption of advanced technology. They emphasise the importance of regulatory frameworks, new plant varieties, sustainable mechanisation, and innovative digital applications. Furthermore, Argentina advocates for fair, transparent, and market-oriented international agricultural trade as a means to achieve comprehensive food security and sustainability. Their approach aligns with the SDGs and highlights the importance of balancing economic growth with environmental conservation in the agricultural sector.

Nacira MUÑOZ

The National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) in Argentina plays a key role in advancing sustainable agriculture. Established in 1956, INTA was created to promote research and extension in the agricultural sector. With a nationwide presence and 7,000 employees, INTA has a well-structured organization that includes a national directorate, regional centres, research centres, and research institutes.

One of the main focuses of INTA is understanding and addressing the impact of climate change on agricultural practices and promoting sustainable land use. They have a number of large-scale, collaborative projects that require scale-specific approaches. For instance, INTA is involved in a project focused on developing and validating a framework for sustainability evaluation. This project aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of environmental processes and management. Additionally, INTA is involved in a project that aims to calculate greenhouse emissions in the agriculture, livestock, and forestry sectors. The goal is to identify technologies that can improve the carbon balance in these sectors.

INTA is also actively involved in social projects that aim to enhance food security and value addition. For the past 30 years, they have been running the Pro-Huerta Programme, a horticultural production programme, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development. This programme benefits many people and helps them commercialise their excess produc. Furthermore, INTA assists in strengthening cooperatives, particularly those associated with yerba mate and artisanal cheese production.

Technological development is another priority for INTA, as they believe it is imperative for improving agricultural productivity. They have developed innovative technologies such as solar-powered cheese vats for small farmers and micro tractors. These technological advancements help farmers in their daily tasks and contribute to increased productivity.

International collaborations are a crucial part of INTA’s strategy. They currently have 72 international collaborations with 187 bilateral agreements and 65 multilateral agreements. This allows for the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources, strengthening their research and extension efforts.

In addition to international collaborations, INTA also recognises the importance of local investments in addressing global challenges. By investing in areas that address local issues while providing global solutions, INTA aims to create sustainable and impactful solutions. They believe that local situations cannot be ignored in favour of global solutions. Long-term plans may change due to evolving circumstances, but the focus remains on investing in local problems to find global solutions.

In conclusion, the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) in Argentina plays a crucial role in advancing sustainable agriculture. Through their research and extension initiatives, INTA addresses various challenges related to climate change, sustainable land use, food security, and value addition. Technological development, international collaborations, and local investments are integral parts of INTA’s strategy to tackle these challenges and create sustainable solutions.

Gloria Abraham

The agricultural sector in Argentina is globally renowned for its significant contribution to food security. Not only does it feed the country’s population, but it also plays a crucial role in ensuring global food security. The sector’s success can be attributed to advancements in biotechnology and digitalization. Precision agriculture and smart farming, aided by biotechnology and data analytics, have greatly improved efficiency and productivity.

Gloria Abraham emphasizes the importance of agriculture, technology, and innovation in driving the sector’s growth. She believes that traditional farming has the potential to transform into a sustainable and technologically advanced industry. Her invitation to panelists to discuss innovative strategies and practices reflects this vision. Argentina’s effective utilization of biotechnology and digitalization in agriculture further demonstrates their commitment to progress.

The development of the agricultural sector in Argentina is the result of cooperation across various sectors, including the public, private, academic, and civil society domains. This collaboration has not only achieved efficiency, sustainability, and global competitiveness, but it has also brought about transformative advancements. This collective effort serves as an exemplary model for other sectors.

The scientific community’s collaboration with technology is another crucial factor in the sector’s success. They provide technical solutions tailored to diverse bioregions, contributing significantly to production and productivity while safeguarding natural resources. The synergy between science and technology has played a vital role in the growth of the agricultural industry.

The panelists also advocate for reform in agricultural trade rules. They suggest that the World Trade Organization (WTO) should promote solutions rooted in scientific and technological knowledge to encourage sustainable food production. Reforming these trade rules, including reducing distorting domestic support, would lead to fair and sustainable practices in global food trade.

In conclusion, the agricultural sector in Argentina exemplifies the transformative power of agriculture, technology, and innovation. Through advancements in biotechnology, digitalization, and precision agriculture, the sector has become more efficient, sustainable, and globally competitive. The collaboration of multiple sectors, including the scientific community and technology, has been instrumental in achieving these results. Calls for reform in agricultural trade rules further emphasize the sector’s commitment to sustainable practices. By adopting these approaches, other nations can strive to build thriving and sustainable agricultural sectors.

Guillermo SALVATIERRA

Argentina has made significant strides in the digitalization of its agricultural sector by leveraging satellite data. The country has successfully launched eight satellites and has plans to launch three more in the future. Two key players in this domain are ARSAT and CONAI, who operate telecommunications and Earth observation satellites respectively.

ARSAT and CONAI’s satellites play a crucial role in providing essential information to farmers, especially in rural areas. For instance, they offer vital data such as soil moisture maps, which greatly assists farmers in making informed decisions about irrigation and crop management. This access to accurate and real-time information empowers farmers to optimize their agricultural practices and enhance crop yields.

Moreover, the collaboration between the technology and agriculture sectors in Argentina has resulted in the development of innovative solutions, such as Frontec. Frontec is a partnership between a technology company responsible for the development of Argentina’s satellites and Logrobo, a significant player in the country’s agribusiness. The main objective of Frontec is to help farmers make more sustainable and profitable agronomic decisions.

Frontec has achieved this goal by creating an online platform that offers site-specific farming recommendations, crop monitoring, and weather and climate data. This platform equips farmers with valuable information to enhance their decision-making processes and improve overall agricultural productivity. Thus, the successful adoption of digital farming technology, exemplified by Frontec, has had a significant broad-scale impact on Argentina’s agricultural sector.

The wide acceptance of Frontec’s services by farmers demonstrates the positive reception and effectiveness of digital farming solutions in the country. In fact, the advancements in digital farming have spurred growth within Argentina’s AgTech sector, with new startups and services emerging to cater to the evolving needs of the agricultural community.

Frontec’s influence extends beyond Argentina’s borders. The technology it has developed has been exported to other countries such as India, Ghana, and Colombia, contributing to global agricultural development. This international adoption of digital farming technology reaffirms its potential for transforming agricultural practices on a global scale.

Frontec solely focuses on providing commercial services to farmers, highlighting its commitment to serving its target audience rather than academia or researchers. This emphasis on practical applications and tangible benefits for farmers underscores the practicality and relevance of Frontec’s offerings.

In terms of infrastructure, Frontec stores its information and platform on Amazon Web Services (AWS), leveraging the cloud storage capabilities provided by the platform. This ensures the accessibility and reliability of the data and services offered by Frontec, allowing farmers to access the platform conveniently and efficiently.

Additionally, there is a potential collaboration between Frontec and ARSAT. ARSAT, having recently developed its own cloud service, presents an opportunity for synergistic collaboration, enhancing the services and offerings of both entities.

The combination of information and technology, encompassing satellite technology, is highlighted as a critical mission for future agriculture. Utilizing satellite technology, along with other digital farming tools, can effectively address agronomic gaps and contribute to sustainable agricultural practices. This holistic approach aligns with the mission economy concept advocated by economist Mariana Mazzucato, emphasising the importance of focused investment and effort in specific areas to drive economic growth and development.

In conclusion, Argentina’s digitalization of its agricultural sector through satellite data has yielded significant benefits. The successful launch of multiple satellites, the emergence of innovative solutions like Frontec, and the widespread adoption of digital farming technology all demonstrate Argentina’s commitment to advancing its agricultural practices. These advancements not only have a positive impact locally but also contribute to global agricultural development. By leveraging information and technology, Argentina is at the forefront of addressing agronomic challenges and embracing a mission economy approach to drive sustainable growth in the agriculture sector.

Agustín TORRIGLIA

Agustin Torriglia is a passionate advocate for sustainable agriculture, promoting a vision of sustainable agricultural production. His NGO, PRECID, is dedicated to promoting sustainable fibre and energy production systems through innovation and knowledge networks. Torriglia’s approach involves implementing no-till farming and crop diversification to reduce environmental impact, optimize production, and foster innovation in the agricultural sector.

One supporting fact for Torriglia’s argument is the significant scale at which his NGO operates. PRECID has over 1,800 members producing and managing more than 11 million hectares of land. This demonstrates widespread interest and commitment to sustainable agriculture.

Another important piece of evidence is the impact of these sustainable farming techniques on yield and environmental sustainability. Torriglia reports a 28% increase in yields, a noteworthy achievement. By adopting no-till farming and diversifying crops, Argentinian farms have not only optimized production but also reduced the use of fossil fuels. Additionally, these practices have contributed to increased carbon sequestration, crucial for mitigating climate change.

The fact that Argentinian farms are already adopting these sustainable practices further strengthens Torriglia’s argument. This adoption is leading to a reduction in carbon emissions in the agricultural sector, contributing to global efforts to combat climate change. Furthermore, Torriglia’s work involves adapting these practices to different geographical areas, ensuring wider benefits from sustainable agriculture.

In addition to sustainable farming practices, Torriglia emphasizes the importance of involving the younger generation in agronomy. He believes promoting participation by the younger generation is essential for the future of sustainable agriculture. To achieve this, training facilities are provided, allowing young individuals to learn and gain hands-on experience in agronomy. Furthermore, farm visitation programs are organized to expose them to practical farming techniques.

Torriglia also advocates for interdisciplinary cooperation in the field of agronomy. He believes including professionals from other disciplines such as biology and data science will bring fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to the agricultural sector. Collaborating with biologists and data scientists, agronomists can benefit from their expertise and address challenges more effectively.

In conclusion, Agustin Torriglia is an advocate for sustainable agricultural production, and his work through PRECID demonstrates the positive impact of sustainable farming techniques. These practices have led to increased yields, reduced environmental impact, and carbon sequestration in the Argentinian agricultural sector. Torriglia also emphasizes the importance of involving the younger generation in agronomy and promoting interdisciplinary cooperation for future advancements in sustainable agriculture.

Federico VILLEGAS:
According to the WTO available data, more than $800 billion of domestic support are annually provided by governments to stimulate agricultural production. Of that sum, more than $500 billion are environmentally harmful. Many governments justify subsidies under the need to ensure food security, but at the same time we are witnessing the environment’s last call to halt its degradation. This panel brings to the WTO an important discussion with members, representatives from civil society, academia, and the private sector on how to find a way to produce more and better food without degrading the environment. We are here to unveil the Argentine experience and shed light on how science and innovation can lead the biological and digital revolution that not only enhances environmental sustainability but also fuels economic growth, fostering social inclusion and food security. In Argentina, the synergy between the public and private sector is clearly visible in the rapid adoption of cutting-edge technologies and best agricultural practices across all scales of production from small to large-scale producers. Our success is due to five key factors, enabling regulatory frameworks, pioneering the development of new plant varieties, championing sustainable mechanization and the widespread embrace of best agricultural practices, providing satellite services, and promoting innovative digital applications. These elements have played pivotal roles in empowering our farmers to increase production and productivity while upholding the utmost respect for the environment. Within the halls of WTO… Argentina asserts that an agricultural system rooted in biological and digital innovation complemented by a fair, rules-based, transparent, non-distorted, and market-oriented international agricultural trade represents a powerful formula for achieving comprehensive food security and sustainability. So let us keep in mind this journey of Argentina and its potential for biodigital agriculture in shaping a more sustainable future, food security, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Before concluding, I would like to thank my friend, Gloria Abraham. We are so happy to see her back in this building and now in her role in ICA, a bivotal institution in Latin America on agriculture, and thank you for the co-sponsoring and the support. Enjoy. And, Gloria, you have the floor.

Gloria Abraham:
Thank you, Federico, and I’m very happy to be here with you and my friends, my colleagues. We used to work a lot of hours, Usha, as you remember, last year for the MC-12. Well, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to this event entitled Synergies in the Biodigital Agri-Innovation in Argentina. Today we are witnessing the intersection of agriculture, technology, and innovation to explore the tremendous potential of biodigital agriculture in Argentina and beyond. Argentina has long been… recognized as a global agricultural powerhouse with its fertile lands and dedication to crop, cultivation, and livestock. It’s a nation that feeds not only its own population, but also contributes significantly to the global food security. Throughout this gathering, we will explore the remarkable strides made by biotechnology and digitalization from precision agriculture and smart farming to biotechnology and data analytics. We will navigate into the innovative strategies and practices that are transforming traditional farming into a highly efficient, sustainable, and technologically advanced sector. Our distinguished panelists, and thank you to be here with us this afternoon, are here to guide us through this discussion, to provide insights, and to inspire us with their experience. And this is why I let me introduce these four outstanding people. Professor Raquel Chang is a senior researcher in National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina and Director of the Agrobiotechnology Institute of the National University of Litoral. Her research focuses on plant adaptation to environmental stress. She has been nationally and internationally awarded, including the designation as AICA Chair in Biotechnology and Sustainable Development. To conclude, it must be highlighted that she is the developer of the first drought-resistant genetically modified wheat, known as Wheat HB4. Dr. Nacira Munoz holds a degree in Ph.D. in Biotechnology. and she is currently performing as Vice President of the National Agricultural Technology Institute, INTA, in charge of enhancing technology dissemination among agriculture producers in Argentina. As you know, as you may know, INTA in Argentina is a pioneer institution in Latin America founded to improve agriculture sector through science-based and technological innovation. Thank you, Nasira. The engineer Guillermo Salvatierra is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Space Activity Commission, CONAE, director of the Postgraduate Program of Industry and Space Systems of the University of Buenos Aires, and nowadays works in an INVAP CEO Senior Advisor. INVAP is the Argentinian signature company related to aerospace solutions, including commercial services to agriculture producers. And Agustin Torriquez is an agronomist member of the Board of Directors Association of Non-Till Producers, APRESID, and manager of Chacra Bioinnova. He was president of APRESID-YOV, the branch of younger producers to improving good agriculture practices across the country and beyond. The distinguished panelists have received the following triggering questions. First, what is the role of science, technical tools, and technological solutions on achieving sustainable development in agriculture? And second, what has been the role of the public and private sector in developing and disseminating new technologies in agriculture? has 12 minutes to respond, carries, and then, if we have time, we will open the floor to receive questions from the public. Dr. Chan, the floor is yours. You have 12 minutes.

Raquel CHAN:
Thank you very much, and thank you all for your patience. Sorry for my voice. Today is not my best day. I will be brief. I’m from the public sector. I’m a researcher and a professor at the University of Littoral. I will tell you two stories, the stories of my group. One is the HHB4 story, and the other one is a story for family agriculture. The two stories are interconnected with the crosstalk, and I will be brief in telling you how. Researchers ask questions. The question was, not this one, how plants that are sessile organisms, that they cannot move, they can adapt to stressing factors that are from biological or non-biological sources. If we look at the disasters that we have seen in the past, we have seen that the climatic disasters between 1990 and 2016, we will see that the flooding events were the more catastrophic and the more frequent. However… However, there is one, okay, one is lacking, is that it’s the water deficit, the most harmful for agriculture. So the question was, how is that several species cannot adapt better than others? So there are species that we cannot eat, and there are species that we can eat, and there are species that die after two minutes to be out of the water. And we choose sunflower, because sunflower is a species that can survive longer periods than mice or wheat without water. And I will not enter in techniques, in technical details, but we isolated genes from sunflower, master switch genes, and introduced them in a species that is used as a model plant that’s called Arabidopsis thaliana. It’s like mouse for human health. It’s a model. We studied all the things we could in Arabidopsis thaliana, but Arabidopsis thaliana is not a crop we cannot eat. It’s a small plant, and one of these genes that was HHV4 was able to confer drug tolerance to Arabidopsis. What type is the plant? Non-transformed plant, and transgenic is this one, which received the gene from sunflower. It’s another picture, and you have all the plants that received the sunflower gene that survived longer than others without water. So we started. way, a long way, without GPS, like I say, because we didn’t know the end of this way. That was to transform crops and to test crops in field trials. This took a long time, but we arrived to soybeans that conserved the main characteristics of Arabidopsis. Soybeans that received the sunflower gene survived longer times without water and in high temperatures, whereas those that didn’t receive the gene died early. The same was with wheat. One of the important questions was if the elite varieties can be improved, and the answer was positive. We succeeded to improve elite varieties. So these are the scaling up. It took 10 years of scaling up and regulatory mechanism to approve this, because they are GMOs. These are different trials we did in the field and in the institute, and this is in the institute with soybeans and with wheat, and we are doing this with mice also. And this is another gene from the same family called HHV-11 that we introduced in mice, soybeans, and rice. And the results were amazing, because we have an increased yield and a resilience to flooding events. And why we succeeded? We succeeded because we had three milestones that were essential for this success. We have a new building. In other words, we have an investment from the state to work better, to work in better conditions. The second one was the interdisciplinary collaborative research. This was fundamental. I am a molecular biologist, and I work with agronomists, ecophysiologists, lawyers, sociologists, and many other professions. And the third one, and it’s not less important than the others, is the public-private association. We associated with a company of farmers that could develop all the regulatory process. And now, this technology was approved in several countries, and the company arrived to New York, and is in the New York stock market. So we are very, very happy, because starting from nothing, we arrived to an international technology exported from Argentina to the world. And I am proud. I wanted to show you also that an independent study performed in the U.S. by a research group that is not related with us, determined that the wheat HB4 is carbon neutral, and does not translate higher costs for consumers. So the take-home message is we can do this, we can develop technologies in a developing country. And the second story I want to tell you, and it’s very short, is that looking at the plants that yielded more, we observed that all of them have wider stems. And since we know that GMOs are not accepted by the public perception, and it’s not accepted in many countries, yes in others, we look for a technique to have more yield without introducing a gene. And we found a technique that is applying weight to the plants in a particular state. And we arrived to the same results as with GMOs. We have 50% more yield putting a little weight on the stem of the plant for 48 hours. We tried this with different seed plants, like chia, it’s like the plant is making gene to be striped, and this makes the plant strong, stronger, and capable of yielding more. These are the results with chia. You can see the plants treated are the three tubes that are in the right, and the untreated is the first one. We have much more yield with this simple technique. This is the field with threads and weights, and I have no time to show you all the species, but I will show you only tomatoes that are species that we harvest the fruits and not seeds. And it was amazing. Here you have the yield of tomatoes treated with weight in the left, on the left, and on the right, untreated. And more amazing was that the treated plants were tolerant to fusarium. Fusarium is a fungus that infects the plants, many plants, and it’s lethal for plants. And since these plants have wider stems, they are more tolerant to fusarium infection. So the project, here we have the plants treated and untreated, infected or not with fusarium, and the results were really amazing. So we learn these techniques to family farmers, small farmers, in schools, in neighbors, in any way we find to transmit this knowledge, we have videos in Spanish and English explaining how to do this. And these videos are available on request, or here you can scan this QR code and you have all the techniques we applied for free. It’s free. We want the world to use them. And the last message is… We need technology, a little humor, we need technology, we need science, even if we are poor, we must and we should invest in science and technology. Thank you very much all.

Federico VILLEGAS:
Thank you Dr. Chan for your, you were very sharp with the time, and thank you, and thanks for your inspiring message, I think it’s very important for us. I open for questions now or after. Ok, after, because we have to turn. And if people want the material, I have all the material. Ok, thank you, thank you so much. We continue with Nasira, I think, yeah, we continue with Nasira, the floor is yours and you have 12 minutes.

Nacira MUÑOZ:
Thank you very much. Can I see my presentation? I will take the time. I will, it’s ok, I will tell you about our National Institute of Agricultural Technology in Argentina, particularly those related with what we are doing, doing 67 years for sustainable agrident in production. The National Institute of Agricultural Technology depends on the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishery from the Ministry of Economy in Argentina. INTA is Science, Technology and Innovation Network. You can see on the map, each dot is an INTA unit. We are a wide and strong presence in the territory from the north to the Antarctic. You know, I don’t know if I can, ¿puedo señalar con esto? You have a little dot there in the Antarctic. Yeah, you can see, right? So, one important particularity of our institute is this wide presence in the territory. As I told you, each dot is an INTA unit. The mission statement, you can read there, and also, one important thing is, INTA was created in 1956 and was created by executive order to promote, invigorate and coordinate activities related with development of research and extension in Argentina. And particularly, to accelerate with the benefit of those fundamental functions, research and extension, the agrarian enterprises and the rural life. So, we have a long time working with it in our country. How we move forward to cover this national scope by a nationwide presence? We have 15 regional centers from which it depends, 52 agricultural experimental stations, and 360 rural extension agencies. We have also six research centers and 16 research institutes which depend on these six research centers. And something interesting that I will tell you a little more about later, that we also have 19 national programs. National programs mean that from different topics, we cover all the country, from the territory to the region. to the national level and from the national level to the territory. These 19 national programs, eight are related with value change specifically, and 11 related with a specific area. We are over 7,000 employees, and something so interesting from the beginning of our institution is that the board of directors is the highest decision-making level in INDA, that includes member from public, but also from private sector, although it’s 100% financed by public sector. It’s 100% funded by Argentinian government. Another important thing is, because the wide range across the country and a lot of, you know, you can imagine the diversity of our region in Argentina, the composition and operation strategy through board of directors, mixed public and private sector, it’s also replicated in the region, and even in the local INDA units. We also have a company, Agricultural Technology Innovation, it’s a mixed capital company made up mainly by INDA, and we have a foundation, a non-profit civil entity, Argentinian foundation, but of course, both help us to achieve the objective of INDA, but our company is mainly dedicated to promote the generation of agribusiness based on the commercialization of development developed by INDA, so we call it the INDA group. Those are the entities that we are working together during 66 years, private and public sector together. The Intercooperative Agricultural Confederation, the Rural Argentine Confederation, Argentine Rural Society, Argentine Agrarian Federation. The General Consortium of Agriculture and Experimentation, and we also have the presence of universities and academic sectors through University Association of Higher Agricultural Education and the National Council of Veterinary Science. This is a charge of our organization charge, and of course, we have a national directorate also that is following and working together with national assistance in different topics and from which it depends, the regional center, the research center, and the national programs. We have an institutional, medium, and long-term strategic plan. Our long strategic plan is from 2015 to 2030. You can imagine why we start to planify to 2030. It’s a date so important for us, and I think that all of you know why. We also have a medium strategic plan that we are working on now. It’s 2021 to 2025. We say that INTA has two identity components, research and development and transfer of technology, and three articulating components, technology transfer, institutional relationship, and communication and information. Of course, the intervention in a territory and in a big country is carried out by integrating the research, transfer, technology, public, private, institutional relationship, and technological linkage. Related with research and development, let me show you our national programs by value change and by area. By value change, for example, you have meat and animal fever, milk, forestry, food, et cetera. By area, you have national programs like biotechnology, genetic resources, and improved breeding. I will show you some examples. I will introduce you a little more about Natural Resources and Environmental Management Program and also our ACT-H program. Transfer and technology, of course, because the Y is present in the territory, the main objective is to facilitate the transfer technology process in accordance, and this is so important, in accordance to the regional agenda. And I repeat, from local level to the national level and from the national level to the territory. How we carry it forward? We have tools for territorial development, 100% financed by public sector, by Argentinian government. Currently, we have our own project portfolio, 132 national projects and 75 territory innovation platforms. All these tools for territorial development are co-managed tools. What does this mean? That we build it with the farmer and with the local people in the territory. From the beginning, from the plan to the project execution, and always with the organization. We just finished our process of planification. The project will be for eight years, and we will revise it after four years. Why it’s important to tell you a little about National Resources and Environmental Management Program? Because, of course, Argentinian agriculture is facing the global climate changes, you know, and these challenges impacting on farmer and rancher livelihood, agricultural economic growth, and of course, the market demands. And why it’s important? Because from this program, we can have and we can… understand environmental process and management that require scale-specific approaches. We need to understand what is going on at the spatial scale, at temporal scale, and from this information decide what is the proper and correctly approach. You can see here one project, for example, related with the development and validation of methodological framework for sustainability evaluation, soil fertility, of course. Here you can see another important information generated with the private sector, APRESIF, that is here with us, and CREA, that is also a member of the Board of Directors of INTA, and this is a map of carbon stock in Argentina. And the project is specifically for carbon, for soil carbon stock, and to promote land degradation neutrality. Our soil at Texas sedimentary now represented 2% of the global stock in the world. You can see also a very big project that we are developing related with the greenhouse emissions. We are doing this in agriculture, husbandry, and forestry system, and the aim is to identify those technologies that improve farm carbon balance. We have projects like we can follow climate risk management. We also have this kind of important large-scale project, for example, this is related with the map of wetlands in Argentina. And why is it important? Because we promote and provide technical support for processes related with the land use planning. Of course, water is a topic and we just come out, I hope, from a very hard period of, yes. And related with water, we approach all the dimension, access, use, management, technology, infrastructure. Circular economy, of course, we also work with it. I will just pass fastly on this. Let me jump to another activity that INTA is doing, yes. Let me jump to this program. This is a pro-huerta program. It’s a program that we developed together with the Ministry of Social Development. It’s focused on horticultural production and already has 30 years in our country. You can see the number of people that is working with it and something important related with this program is not only what we are doing, the technical assistance, also that the farmers can, sorry, I cannot pass, yes, the farmers can commercialize those products that overproduce or they can decide, start to produce. This is also important because we are conveying the organizational innovation related with how the farmer could organize for, this is an example in Tucuman, these are two, another example of food security. security and add value related with yerba mate that is so important in Argentina. The collaborating and strengthening cooperatives is in the northeast of Argentina and you can see a picture related with innovation process in production of artisanal cheeses is another example in northwest Argentina. I will just jump to some technological developments that are so important for us. This is a solar powered cheese bath for 49 liters that is mainly designed for goat and sheep milk producers, small farmers and can be used for the farmers with any or low access to electricity. This is a milk with high CLA content. Of course the balance, it has a better balance between omega 3 and 6 and we are producing milk and also cheese. This is Tango, it’s a micro tractor designed for family agriculture. It’s really helping and improving the rural life because it can motorize a wide variety of agricultural implements. This is another technology. This is a milk packaging and pasteurizing milk that can be used by the farmers at the local region and can do both pack and pasteurizing at the same time at low temperatures. Let me show you, of course we work also with biodigester. We are working with biodigester for biogas production from a school to large scale production. This is something that we are doing so hard, this is an example in a population. of 300 inhabitants. We also, here I will show you some examples related with medium and big farmers. We helped to develop and improve the silo bag technology, for example. And something interesting, we are exporting silo bag to 50 countries today. Let me just go to the end. Oh, yes. This is interesting, I think, on this content because this is the international, the current international collaboration of FINTA. We are collaborating with the FINTA, the current international collaboration of FINTA. We are collaborating with 72 countries, 187 bilateral agreements and 65 multilateral agreements. And, of course, the intervention in the territory is carried out integrating all our capacities and mainly by finance, by public sector, but always interacting with private sector. And this is something that we always say on FINTA, from this experience to be working with the local people all the time and from the local level to the national level and from the world, always a better future is just a conversation away. We just need to conversate.

Gloria Abraham:
Thank you, Nasira, for your presentation and your powerful message at the end of the presentation. Thank you so much. Well, now the floor is for the engineer, Guillermo Salvatierra. The floor is yours.

Guillermo SALVATIERRA:
Thank you. Let me share a short presentation about our experience in the digitalization process of the agricultural sector in our country, digitalization process based on satellite data or satellite information. First, a short history about our national satellite development, technology development. We have launched eight satellites. We are working in the near future to launch three new one satellites. Today, the company ARSAT, our national telecommunications company, is operating two telecommunications satellites, exporting services to Latin America and U.S., but mainly providing services to rural areas that didn’t have connectivity before the launching of those satellites. In the other side, you have the CONAI, the National Commission of Space Activities, our national space agency, that is operating a constellation of Earth observation satellites called SAOCOM. SAOCOM is a cutting edge technology of Earth observation because those satellites have the capability to pass through the canopy of the trees or the leaves of the crops and observe and see the soil and even to penetrate in the soil and collect data in the underground, five centimeters until 10 centimeters under the ground. And with this information… The National Space Activities working together with INTA and other institutions provide soil moisture maps of our country that is a very useful information for the farmers, and other products like radar green index that are products useful to make biomass assessments or crop status assessments to the farmers. There are other products for the agriculture sector, but I think that the idea is clear. To harness this satellite infrastructure, this satellite data, two companies in our country started to work together in order to provide services to the agriculture sector and created a new company called Frontec, a digital farming company that I was the CEO of the company for seven years. The first company in BAP, the company I work today is a technological company that have built all the satellites of our national plan and is providing other services and products like radars, between them meteorological radars, and you manage vehicles like the drone you can see spraying a crop in the picture, and the partner is Logrobo, that is one of the main agricultural or one of the main players in the agribusiness in Argentina. Both companies define it as a goal of Frontec to help the farmers to make better agronomic decisions. For more information visit www.frontec.com Better means, in this case, better means more profitable in a sustainable way. The general strategy was to apply more information and less inputs, or most information and the right amount of input to be more profitable and sustainable, of course. In our country, for instance, a bag of corn costs around $200 per bag, and it’s too much to the farmers. And then the optimization or to work with site-specific agriculture makes a lot of sense. To do this, we started to work with trials in different fields, in different regions. In each trial, we put together a lot of information that comes from the satellites, the geological radars, and working together with geospatial technologies to place the information of the crops and of the weather in each pixel of the land that we were doing trials, and developing software to make an automatization of this complex process, and working with machine learning technologies, feeding the systems with all of this information. Finally, we achieved a great work developing software, and we put together all this software in the platform, and the platform was placed in the cloud, in the Amazon. cloud, working in a model of software as a service platform, provide services by internet to the farmers, and then the farmers upload with a mobile device or with a desktop, upload the boundaries of its field or its plot, and finally to the company after they upload it, the company run all the data, all the remote sensing data for this specific case and provide the services to the farmers. What kind of services? Services like site-specific agriculture management to make site-specific prescription, working with our agronomic management zone that have identified the software of Frontec with agronomic simulation models calibrated for each agronomic management zone. If you upload in this model the cost of the nitrogen and the price of the grain, you can make an economic optimization to finally upload this information in the agricultural machine, in the dryer, for instance, to make the application on the field. Other product is crop monitoring, where you can get once or twice a week a crop status in order to know what is the photosynthetic activity of the plant in each pixel of the plot, or crop productivity maps or crop anomalies alerts to identify crop stress to make a mitigation or… or avoid the problems where the problems are too small. The platform has a lot of information about the climate and the weather, because we are working together with our national meteorological service. We have together a great high-performance computing to process a lot of data and provide very accurate and with great spatial resolution, weather forecast, and historical climate information, too. Finally, what’s the impact of this work? Well, as you can see in the map, each yellow dot is a dot that worked with Frontec. Many hectares, many farmers. But I think that the main impact of our work was the right side of the slide. That is the current high-tech ecosystem in our country. We were pioneers in this work, but we attracted the first farmers to the digital farming. But after that, a lot of startups, new companies, started to offer a new set of services to make the dissemination against the technology of the digital farming. And today, we have a strong tech sector working with a lot of farmers in our country. I think I have time for one more slide. Two minutes and a half. Two minutes. Oh, well, OK. A lot of time. A lot of time. I was worried about my. OK. Then, finally, this technology, we We exported this technology, too. We worked in a different context of our context. For instance, we have been, we worked in India with farmers in the Hansi region with farmers of one or two hectares, yes, that were working to avoid the overdose-generalized agronomic management. And we worked in Ghana in order to identify new regions to new rural development. We worked in Colombia with Oil Palma and other development, adapting this technology to new context and making experience to move, to move abroad our technology. Well, that’s it.

Gloria Abraham:
Thank you. Thank you. Well, Guillermo, thank you so much for your practical experience. It puts in a very interesting way to move forward. Thank you. And the future and on the table to discuss. Now the floor is for Agustin Torriga, our youngest participant. And thank you so much to join with us.

Agustín TORRIGLIA:
Hello, everyone. It’s a pleasure to be here. Thanks for invitation. My name is Agustin Torriga. I’m from Rio Cuarto in the center of my country. I am 29 years old. I’m a member NGO and technical manager of a group of farmers and companies. I’m going to talk about the vision of production that we promote. Chupad, in context, some number in Argentina. We have a productive surface, 38 million hectares, food fiber and energy production, corn, 49 million tons, soybean, 43 million tons, wheat, 22 million tons, humus, others. High geoenvironment variability, deep-land soils, mostly the land system, high percent of rented land, high tax pursuit and production costs. Who are we? We are PRECID. It’s an NGO comprised of agronomists, farmers and advisors with over 51 years of history. PRECID currently has more than 1,800 members producing and divided on over 11 million hectares. PRECID has 14 regional groups made up of farmers and agronomists in Argentina, South America and Africa. PRECID has also 1,900 farmer-led R&D projects in their own fields on over 20 different topics. In the following slide, see the evolution in recent years. You can see the level for Argentina, so-so 90 percent, South America and globally. The rapid evolution of adoption of no-till is because farmers are… directly involved in the innovation process. To achieve this level of adoption in other countries, local farmers need to adapt this process in their own areas. In Brazil, our mission is to promote sustainable fiber and energy production system through innovation, science, and knowledge network. How do we do it? First, developing systems that optimize production, which lower your environment impact, and second, promoting innovation in networks. How to lower your environment impact production system is based on the following pillars. One, no-till. Second, intensification. Crops growing in fields as long as possible, that is, more crops per year. Three, diversification. Smart integration of different crops, that is, crop rotation, which graze and legumes and celery crops, and four, an integrated nutrient and pest management. Other benefits of this agriculture, it improves water productivity with 25 percent, this means more grain per millimeter of water. Twenty-eight percent increase in yields, and three percent more stable. 60% the use of fossil fuels. I recommend scanning QR code to look some research and investigation for a receipt. Other benefits, a little more normal, increasing carbon sequestration, reduction of greenhouse gas and the use of synthetic fertilizers. In this photo, we can see different kinds and cover crops in the cropping, cover crop by mercy between. You can see mechanical role. The path of innovation in network. First, exchange of information and experience. Second, human issues and challenges identification. Three, experimenting solution. Four, Aplin and Skylung. And five, guarantee sustainability of production through certification system. This interactive model of innovation are based on the articulation of research, extension and community to form society that learn and adapt to the synergies of the interaction between actor, vision and discipline. your project. I’m going to show you some projects. Grand Chaco project, 150,000 hectares, monitoring carbon stock and adaptation of practice, high meat at sequestration, forest inventory and biodiversity survey. Other projects, carbon network, exploring the carbon sequestration, potency of Argentina, agricultural soils and their role in climate change mitigation. Other projects, appreciate certifications, first national standard for the certification of best productive, your environment and social practice. And other projects, North Patagonia Valley Cage, adapting no-till in North Patagonia. This model of agriculture can be considered an alliance against climate change. Carbon sequestration in soils is doubled. Greenhouse haze emission are reduced because of the reduction in full consumption and the variability application of input. We are able to produce more kilogram of grain per carbon unit emitted. The sustainable production system promoted via PRECEDE not only have a lower environment impact and can be alliance. against climate change, they also entail economy benefit for farmers. I leave you my contact. Thank you very much. Sorry, my English is bad. Thank you.

Gloria Abraham:
Thank you, Agustin. I think as a producer and a younger producer, your message is our land and sun to work here at the WTO. Thank you so much. We have some time for some questions, if you want. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Gloria. We are very happy you are back here. Thank you.

Audience:
I’m from Argentina, for the very informative technology session today, we learned a lot, especially new technology. Can you say something, however, something is disappeared, kind of? I don’t know. Anyway, what I want to ask is that there was a green revolution in 1960s and the 70s, like semi-dwarf wheat was developed by Dr. Norman Bloch and the IR8, new variety of rice, and developed by ED, International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. And after those, with these two new products, the production of wheat and rice… And the rice grows up three and four times. And it contributes a lot. And population grows from 2 billion to now 7 billion. But what I wonder is that after 1960s and 1970s green revolution, there is no second or third generation of green revolution that has not occurred. A lot of technology people are involved in the agricultural section, technology field. But still, we have no kind of very large increase of production in the short period. So I don’t know why we do not have that kind of revolution yet to meet the demand of crop for 10 billion people in the future. Probably, we need that kind of another technological revolution in the future. And another thing is that what I heard is today, there is development of a new GMO, wheat. And what I heard is that 10 years ago or something, the United States developed a new GMO for wheat. But it was not stable. And so it was abolished. But I heard that there is a new GMO. Wheat was developed. So I would like to know about what is that and what is the advantage of that new GMO, what is the benefit of that. And another thing is that there are many national research institutes, Institute National. In every country, they have that kind of institution. But I don’t know whether you have that kind of association, world association, of that kind of national R&D research. Because if you can more cooperate among those international organizations, we could develop very fast new technology in agriculture sector, and also we can attain more sustainable world in agriculture sector. So I’m wondering what is the situation of that kind of situation. Also, another thing is that to attract young, smart young generation to the agricultural technology field is very important to move forward on this sector. So what kind of Argentina make effort to attract young, smart generation into this field?

Gloria Abraham:
Thank you. I invite you to do the second revolution. Yeah, I think we can take a couple of questions and then we share the floor to answer. You and you.

Audience:
Okay, thank you very much for all the information you gave us today. I have a question for Guillermo Salvatierra. I was wondering, it’s more informative, I was wondering, all the data management of the project that you have on satellites, I imagine that ARSAT is taking care of that, but do you outsource some of that or not? Is it located only in Argentina or is it located elsewhere? And who has access to that data? I was wondering if, for example, could be used for other uses, like academic research or stuff, like who has access to all the data that is being gathered through the satellites and where it’s located? No, I think we can have the other question and then… Okay. Thank you. Thank you for giving me the floor. My name is Rafael. I’m from the Brazilian mission here in Geneva, and thank you for this panel. It’s always a pleasure to hear about solutions and about sustainable production and about a way forward and not just, I don’t know, imposing measures or complaining about. So it was a pleasure to hear you all. From what I’ve heard, we saw developments on carbon stock. We saw developments on new seeds. But from a governmental perspective, it’s always difficult to choose where to invest. We have limited resources, and we have a lot of things going on all the time. So one day we hear about nanotechnology. The other day we are hearing about blockchains, and the other day we are seeing genetic addition, and we have a lot of things going on. And we know that from a state perspective that you cannot just choose the right thing. That’s impossible. From, I don’t know, 10 seeds that you try, 15 seeds that you try, just one will be successful at the end. So I’d like to hear the views of the speakers on how to define the issues that are going to be researched in the future. How can we set this agenda, I don’t know, not more precisely, but having more chances to be successful with fewer resources as development countries. Thank you.

Gloria Abraham:
Well, thank you. Thank you. I think we can start with Guillermo to answer your important question, and then we can have a round with one minute for each one of you. I want to answer our colleague from Brazil, Guillermo.

Guillermo SALVATIERRA:
Okay. The users of Frontec are the farmers, and we provide commercial services. Just commercial services. We are not working for academia or researchers. In case we are developing something, we have an agreement with Universidad del Noroeste, for instance, but usually we provide commercial services. The information and the platform is placed in the AWS, in the Amazon Web Services, because ARSAT recently has developed its own cloud to place this kind of tools. The other question was… No, I think that there were the two questions. Yes, it’s possible because now ARSAT has the service, but until now it wasn’t.

Gloria Abraham:
Okay. Well, thank you. We can start now with the round to make the comments to the Brazil delegates, starting with Nasira.

Nacira MUÑOZ:
Very interesting question, and how we can do focus, especially from the state and government investment. But the short answer is like we have a planification, so we already identify where. Something that is happening is around the agriculture, everything is changing. is changing so fast. So something that you planify, like a long-term plan, could change, and we are at the middle of investment and development, but I think your question is a very interesting question because we really need to work about to define where to do focus. This is the short answer. The most important answer, I think, in my opinion, and considering the extension that we have as a country, is that we need to invest in those topics that can approach locally problem, but give us globally solution. So we need to work at local level to give global solution, but we cannot forget our local situation and invest in something that allow us to develop our territory.

Gloria Abraham:
Thank you, Nasira, and then now is the floor for Dr. Chan.

Raquel CHAN:
Thank you. We’ll mix your commentaries and your question. Where to invest? I think that each of us make little contribution to the Green Revolution, the second Green Revolution that we cannot do it, it’s not hard, it’s not easy. The idea of the first Green Revolution, we must expect a genius for the second one. And if we have no genius, we have lots of little genius. that can contribute with the little things. So perhaps we will not have a second revolution, but we will have small revolutions to provide the world with a human population growing each year, although the pandemic, that needs more food, more energy, and to do little things that can improve food production, food security and energy production, clean energy production. Where to invest? It depends on each country. It depends on the country. Our country is an agricultural country. We live from agricultural exportation. So agriculture is very important, and agriculture is what Guillermo is talking about. Satellites are important, Agustin, the development, all these things are little things that made from Argentina, a country that Guillermo has to have the number. In 30 years, how much will improve the production of food? In tons. In tons? Yes. Yes. With digital technologies or all? All. All world. Yes. We’re talking about that. Yes. Yes. We produce about around 40 million tons of grains, I think, in the 90s, and today we are in 150. Yes. So you are, you have your green revolution. Yes. Several ones. We duplicate and triplicate our production with small contributions. The GMO wheat is a very big container, it’s not a little one, this is work, hard work and hard work and a little luck, it produces, it depends, it depends, the abiotic stress tolerance technology is not universal, it’s different in one place from another place. In the province of Buenos Aires, that is a drugged place, a drugged place, you have almost the double, the double production with the same water. In other parts it’s 10%, 5% and in other parts it’s zero. It’s a technology that you must apply in several places of the world, but not in all of them. It’s not like the first GMO generation, that is universal, but the contribution is big because drugged, we have every year, everywhere.

Gloria Abraham:
Okay, thank you. Thank you. Well, Guillermo, you have the floor.

Guillermo SALVATIERRA:
Well, I’m not a policy maker, but I’m very enthusiastic about the approach of Mariana Mazzucato, the Italian economist that speaks about the mission economy in order to put together a great effort in a great mission and to be focused in the investment and in the work. And related to your comment, I believe that one of the missions for the agriculture in the future is to work with… It’s work with information, with technology, like the satellite technology and other ones, in order to attack the agronomic gaps, the agronomic brechas agronomicas, the agronomic gaps, because we have a lot to gain with information, and information is cheaper than inputs, and information is more sustainable than cheaper, and maybe one mission that we can focus on in the future will be to apply more information to the agricultural sector. Thank you.

Gloria Abraham:
We must know how to use the information, this is very important. Yes, yes. Yes, indeed. Well, thank you, thank you Guillermo and Agustin. Your turn.

Agustín TORRIGLIA:
To promote participation of young people is a question, sorry, in Argentina, in particular in Apresid, to promote participation of young people. We can already say, training, and to visit farms, and you invite other professions, not so, no agronomy, so, and invite biologists, data science, and other professions, is to promote a consistent good.

Gloria Abraham:
Okay, well, thank you, thank you so much colleagues and friends, to sum up our discussions, it’s clear that the cooperation and collaboration between different sectors, public, private, academic, and . civil society, has played a pivotal role in the development and transformation of the Argentina agricultural sector. This synergy has helped the sector to achieve efficiency, sustainability, and global competitiveness. Allow me to underline some of the main points mentioned by the panelists. First, they have underscored the critical significance of fostering a national scientific community that provides technical solutions to the specific needs of diverse bioregions. Secondly, they have explained that science and technology are the driving forces behind business working in the agricultural sector. The synergy between these elements has increased production and productivity, but also curtailed production cuts while safeguarding invaluable natural resources. Lastly, the panelists agree that the WTO should achieve an agreement to reform agricultural trade rules in order to reduce distorting domestic support and promote solutions rooted in scientific and technological knowledge. You emphasized that this would, in turn, act as a powerful catalyst for encouraging sustainable food production at a global scale. To conclude, this symposium has clearly underlined the importance of the transformative power of cooperation, science, and technology in the Argentina agricultural sector. This case sets an example for other developing countries willing to increase sustainable agriculture production all over the world. while avoiding distorting domestic subsidies. I thank all of you for actively engaging with our esteemed panelists today, and trust that you will go home not only with valuable lessons learned, but also with inspiring ideas to carry forward. Thank you. And thank you, Federico. Thank you.

Federico VILLEGAS: