Workshop of the Latin American Soil Laboratory Network (LATSOLAN)

Background

The Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) was established in 2017 to build and strengthen the capacity of laboratories in soil analysis and to respond to the need for harmonizing soil analytical data. In order to better downscale the network activities, several regional networks have been established over the years. The Latin American Soil Laboratory Network (LATSOLAN) was established in 2018 through a launch meeting in Mexico and aims to group together all soil laboratories operating in Central America, in Latin America and in the Caribbean and counts today around 230 soil testing institutions from 23 countries, making it the largest regional soil laboratory network of GLOSOLAN. Since its establishment, LATSOLAN members succeeded in strengthening the connection between different laboratories operating in the region and in implementing a regional work plan that has been revised yearly, during the LATSOLAN annual meetings. That was possible thanks to the great commitment of the members of the LATSOLAN Steering Committee which strongly believed in the potential of LATSOLAN as a tool to bring together soil laboratory managers and technicians in concrete actions towards an improvement of the regional analytical capacity.

Venue and participants

Representatives of the National Reference Laboratories of LATSOLAN will be meeting in Chile from 8 to 11 April through a dynamic workshop taking place in Santiago (first day) and then in Chillán (other days). On the first day participants will be hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture in Santiago de Chile where the ongoing FAO projects in the region will be presented, with the participation of representatives of the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (FAO-RLC). From the second day onwards, participants will be moved to the Chillán Campus, where the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Concepción (UDEC) and its soil laboratories are located. 

Objective

The meeting would allow LATSOLAN members to: 

• Share updates on the main activities and projects involving soil laboratories occurring in the region and at global scale; 
• Revise the regional work plan for the next years, trying to target the main needs of LATSOLAN members; 
• Organize the next regional inter-laboratory proficiency test (PT) as well, planned for 2024, which would focus on the capacity to determine soil chemical and physical parameters with accuracy and precision; and 
• Attend training sessions held by world’s leading experts on the topics of quality control and adoption of GLOSOLAN SOPs for the determination of soil chemical, physical and (especially) biological parameters, soil spectroscopy and the development of soil spectral libraries in the region. 

Live Broadcast- Monday, april 8 09:00 hours Chile time