Expoagro is impressive due to
its size
, but above all due to
its content
.
In the 50 hectares (50 apples) more than 600 companies
are crowded together
, among them the most important in the world of agrotechnology.
There are the big brands of
equipment, supplies and services
.
As is the case of John Deere, the world leader in agricultural machinery, with
a 10,000-square-meter covered stand
where they put all the meat on the grill.
A theater, virtual reality, screen paraphernalia, even a
"sustainable" garden
.
It is that the paradigm of sustainability crosses the entire sample.
And it was well exposed in the Technodrome, which bears the name of
Mario Bragachini , an
INTA
technician
who played a key role in the
Second Revolution of the Pampas
, that of technological conquest.
The Tecnódromo is an amphitheater through which the novelties selected by a group of experts parade.
For 45 minutes, another INTA technician,
Hernán Ferrari, explains the characteristics of each team
.
All nationals.
Two gigantic
exponents of no-tillage
(Agrometal and Crucianelli),
self-propelled sprayers
with a wide working width,
corn headers
that allow harvesting in all directions, whatever the distance between rows.
The
carbon fiber shelling head G-FAS
, the
robotic pulverizer
of the Brazilian Jacto, also installed in the country with a plant in Arrecifes.
Herbicide and insecticide applicator
drones
that the Cordovan Akron is introducing, which does not stop growing here and in the world.
Ferrari highlighted the common denominator of this technology: the search for a
more efficient production from the economic point of view.
And at the same time,
friendly to the environment
.
No one produces food with a better carbon footprint than the Argentine farmer.
And he has been doing this since long before awareness of climate change and global warming arose.
Sustainability and carbon footprint go together
.
Yesterday, an agreement was presented between three companies, which want to facilitate the measurement and certification of the carbon footprint of each producer.
Between Agrology (made up of a group of leading producers), the global trader Viterra (formerly Glencore), and the Puma platform, they entered into an agreement that aims to achieve a price differential for production
with a certified carbon footprint
.
There was a queue to get in.
At the Bayer stand, another world giant, Daniel Aguzin (commercial manager) remarked in the same direction.
The idea infiltrates everywhere.
For example, moving
from the current agrochemical container system, from 25-liter drums, to returnable 1,000-liter bins
.
It is an important step.
In the Puma tent, the Trafigura oil company, one of the largest in the world (of Dutch origin, now based in Singapore), tells us about its agreement with the Association of Argentine Cooperatives (ACA).
They are going to bottle the lubricating oil in tri-layer drums, where the middle one will be made of recycled polyethylene
at the cooperative's Cañada de Gómez plant.
ACA has an agreement to distribute Puma fuels in agriculture, which has a refinery in Bahía Blanca and an oil plant in La Plata.
It should be remembered that ACA (which brings together 50,000 producers) is one of the leaders in the production of corn ethanol, from its plant in Villa María.
There
the CO2 that arises from the fermentation of corn is recovered
.
This carbon dioxide gas is recovered in the same plant and bottled.
It is done by the Chiantore company, which
previously produced CO2 by burning natural gas.
There is nothing more elegant
in this 360 economy. In the Cañada de Gómez plant, in addition, the polyethylene from the silobags
that ACA itself produces in General Pico (La Pampa)
is recycled .
And the containers of agrochemicals formulated by the same cooperative center.
In the sample is, as always, the introducer and world leader of
silobags
(Ipesasilo).
Beyond the bad reputation of plastic, in fact
this flexible storage system is also a way of lowering the carbon footprint
, avoiding the construction of silos and elevators that not only make logistics more expensive, but are much more expensive in terms of environmental.
Above all, when there is the possibility of recycling and second use of scrap.
Another great topic present is that of
biotechnology, whose environmental contribution is phenomenal
.
Herbicide tolerance events have facilitated the management of no-tillage,
the biggest change in the history of agriculture since its birth in the Neolithic
.
Insect tolerance genes made it possible to increase yields, stretch planting dates (before,
late corn plantings were cannon fodder for caterpillars), and avoid the use of insecticides
.
Now, the Bioceres HB4 generation, with
genes for tolerance to water stress,
is showing off .
Planting in Brazil was released last week.
It was the most visited stand at Expoagro.
Yomel, one of the great innovators, based in Nueve de Julio, not only presented equipment that improves efficiency in fodder conservation (such as the baler
that wraps rolls of grass with stretch polyethylene film).
The surprise is the aerial photo that shows the roof of the large factory covered with solar panels.
Argentina green year.
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