Cycle of Dialogues Climate and resilient management of agricultural ecosystems

 

Since the end of 2021 and so far this year 2022, the world faces fertilizer scarcity, driven by a rise in prices, increasing by approximately 78% in this period. Prices of P and K fertilizers went from US$ 450 to US$ 1200 per ton; urea went from US$ 500 to over US$ 1000. In addition, fertilizers are no longer available on the market, as many production factories, which were facing negative margins, stopped production; among other factors, due to the increase in the price of energy. Consequently, it is expected a reduction in fertilizer applications that will reduce yields and the quality of food production. Additionally, phenomena related to climate change and land degradation, worsen the future outlook for the Latin America and Caribbean region. Based on this situation, the Soil CoP-of LAC proposed to address the issue by first laying out the current situation of soil fertility and plant nutrition in the region (Dialogue 1), what alternatives are available for sustainable soil fertility management (Dialogue 2), and what policies are being implemented in the region to promote and scale up these alternatives (Dialogue 3).

Dialogue 1: Current status of soil fertility and plant nutrition in LAC

Objetive

To strengthen the cooperation agenda among countries in the region through the exchange of experiences, best practices, public policy tools and to disseminate useful information to facilitate decision making for soil management, to face the challenges of climate change, and the fertilizer crisis.

Audience

This cycle of dialogues is aimed at a wide range of audiences, such as soil technicians, scientists, members of the soil community of practice, students, farmers, decision makers, servers from public institutions, among others.

Objetive

• Contribute to the knowledge about the current state of soil fertility in each subregion of Latin America and the Caribbean
• Raise awareness of the threats to soil resources related to fertility
• Identify and understand the bases of the biological fertility of soils
• Contextualize the identification of experiences and cases that contribute to sustainable soil management.

Invited Panelists

Fernando García, Profesor Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias Balcarce - Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata.

Alfredo Alvarado, Profesor emérito de la Universidad de Costa Rica.

Gaius Eudoxie, Universidad de las Indias Occidentales.

Luiz Wall, CONICET - Universidad Nacional de Quilmes.

Marcos Angelini, Alianza Global del Suelo.

Axel Schmidt, Catholic Relief Services.

Sustainable management of soil fertility to mitigate climate change

Objetives

• Dissemination of knowledge and exchange of opinions at the regional level on the sustainable management of soil fertility with emphasis on carbon sequestration in soils and efficient use of nitrogen fertilizers.
• Identification of alternatives for sustainable management of soil fertility focused on recarbonization and optimization of the use of nitrogen fertilizers.

Guest panelists

Natalia Rodríguez, Land and Water Officer, Secretariat of the Global Soil Partnership, FAO

Sol Ortíz, General Director of Policy, Prospecting and Climate Change - SADER, Mexico/ President ASLAC

Iván Ortíz-Monasterio, Principal Investigator of International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Mexico.

Francisco Pugno, Manager of Agritest SRL and Partner of Aapresid, Argentina

Vinisa Saynes, Consultant for the Global Soil Partnership, FAO

Stéphane Roux, Project Chief, Principal Engineer, Setec International, France-Colombia.

Sergio de los Santos, Professor and Researcher at the Technologic Institute of Sonora, Mexico.

Manuel Valencia, Student of the Doctoral Program in Agricultural Sciences, University of the Llanos, Colombia.

Jorge Chalco, Researcher CONICET and INTA- Agricultural Experimental Station Salta, Argentina.

Gabrielle de Souza, Agricultural Officer, Research Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries, Trinidad and Tobago/ Focal Point GSP.

Javiera Suárez, Facilitator Soil Community of Practice, FAO.

Moderator: Ana Posas, Agricultural Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean, FAO

 

Dialogue 3: Public policies related to the sustainable management of soil fertility in LAC

Objectives

• To learn about the importance of public policies to promote sustainable soil management (SSM).
• To show successful examples of SSM public policies in the Region.
• To explore how public policies can have an impact on other aspects that are necessary for SSM.

Guest panelists

Monica Antilén, Associate Professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and President of the Chilean Soil Science Society

Rodrigo Herrera, Coordinator of the drafting process of the preliminary draft of the Soil Framework Law, Chile

Dagoberto Rodríguez, National State Director, Direction of Soils and Fertilizers, Ministry of Agriculture, Cuba

Mario Pérez, Deputy Director of Sustainable Land Use, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mexico

Eduardo Su Aguilar, Head of the Direction of Water and Soil, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), Nicaragua

Giacomo Rocchegiani, Intern in Soil Governance, Global Soil Partnership, FAO

Moderator: María (Pilu) Giraudo, Honorary President Aapresid - Rural Women Network, Argentina