25/8/23 00:00

With record turnout, the XXXI Aapresid Congress came to an end

During three days more than 7800 attendees enjoyed an event where sustainability, innovation and agricultural trends were main characters hand in hand with renowned representatives and experts from the farming sector.

With such mass attendance, Aapresid’s XXXI edition of its traditional Congress “C, a life element” gathered renowned national and international mentors and professionals from  the farming sector. Led by companies and agricultural producers conveying this process, from Wednesday 9 to Friday 11 of August, more than 7800 people from all around the country and the world, visited the different halls and stands at the event. 

Regarding the key features that marked the event, Aapresid and Syngenta disclosed the first results on a study that indicates that agricultural lands are only at 46% of their soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration capacity. Thus, they presented a map with valuable information about theArgentinian soils potential that could lead SOC stocks from 46% to 56% of its maximum storage capacity, which could mean mitigating between 50% and 64% of emissions related to agriculture. 

“Leading this project alongside Syngenta is very important, since it will allow us to know where we stand in relation to SOC levels and what values we can achieve in each region. On the other hand, it is key to understand how we can adjust strategies to maximize sequestration in every environment (intensification level, diversification, nutrition, etc.),” said Marcelo Torres, Chair of the Argentine No-Till Farmers Association (Aapresid in Spanish). 

“Following that path, the contribution of Aapresid producers that have been employing methods related to sequestration is essential because it leads the way toward that desired ‘possible’. Finally, this project will facilitate the creation of tools to guarantee our role concerning climate change mitigation and our position in the world,” he added.

In addition, the XXV International Oilseed Producers Dialogue (IOPD) took place as a side event, which gathered all oilseed producer association representatives from main producer countries, representing products such as soybean, sunflower, canola and rapeseed. Focusing on the challenges faced by the international industry, numerous discussions emphasized policies and regulations, market access and the future of the oilseed industry.

Broadly, the IOPD agenda combined panels addressing relevant worldwide matters in the oilseed sector, along with sections destined to report novelties in every IOPD participant country. Each country's presentation included current news, technological advances and sector challenges in every national context in particular. 

Participants in this meeting included: American Soybean Association (ASA), U.S. Canola Association and U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), Argentine No-till Farmers Association (Aapresid), Paraguayan Grains and Oilseed Traders Association (CAPECO in Spanish) and Asociación de Productores de Soja, Oleaginosas y Cereales (APS) from Paraguay, Associação dos Produtores de Soja e Milho (Aprosoja) and Associação dos Produtores de Soja e Milho de Mato Grosso (Aprosoja Mato Grosso) from Brazil. Furthermore, the Australian Oilseeds Federation (AOF), the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA) and Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), the Fédération française des producteurs d’oléagineux et de protéagineux (FOP) from France, the Mesa Tecnológica de Oleaginosos (MTO) from Uruguay, the National Farmers Union (NFU) from Australia, and the Union zur Forderung von Oel- und Proteinpflazen (UFOP) from Germany. 

Another highlight was that  within the panel: “Latin American cooperation for sustainable agriculture”, CAAPAS (Confederation of American Associations for a Sustainable Agriculture) and IICA (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture) signed an agreement for technical cooperation, which aims to design and enforce actions that allow coordination, interaction and cooperation for competitiveness improvement in the continental agrifood sector through sustainable and regenerative agriculture, no-till systems, soils conservation and practices that help improve both yields and quality life of rural dwellers.

CAAPAS is composed by AAPRESID; Brazilian Federation of No Till Farming (FEBRAPDP); Mexican Association of Conservation Tillage (AMLC); Uruguayan Association for no-tillage (AUSID); and Paraguayan Federation of no-tillage for a sustainable agriculture (FEPASIDIAS), and has been working for the last 30 years in the promotion, development, intensification and improvement of the no-till system at national and international level, stimulating and carrying out all types of research, training and technical and/or scientific economic studies, with the purpose of increasing the knowledge about the soil, its care, its development and impact on the environment, emphasizing the dissemination, growth and permanent updating of the no-till.