–
Officials related to the agricultural sector are updated with the new techniques to be used in the field to transfer knowledge to the producer through the plan called Agro Innova developed by the Institute of Agricultural Innovation of Panama (IDIAP), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Latin America (IICA) with funding from the European Union. Despite the pandemic and world events, food production does not stop, so the project that reaches some 3 thousand small producers seeks to lower costs without losing the quality of the products.
–
Manuel Pitre, from IICA, pointed out that production technologies for basic grains and livestock are being validated, reinforcing animal welfare with nutrition, improvement of pastures and fodder banks, as well as promoting the dissemination of the “Best Stallion” program to reach producers who have not been benefited.
–
“The producer must not only have the agricultural activity as such, but also the improvement through the use of improved seeds, alternatives in fertilization issues, since due to global situations, agricultural inputs are rising, so in the project we promote the use of other options through violas, organic fertilization that can be better”, he said.
Food security depends on adaptation to climate change and overcoming world events by producers, the main driver of the activity.
The technical secretary of MIDA in Chiriquí, Nodier Villamonte, stated that in areas with less rainfall, agroforestry systems, live fences and fodder banks should be used so that the farms are successful despite the drought.
“Organic fertilizer is also very important for fertilization, such as water harvesting. In each sector, we characterize the areas to be able to resolve the priorities of each one,” he mentioned.
The program is now two years old. In Chiriquí, producers work in areas of Barú in the west of the province and San Lorenzo in the east. There are also producers from the Ngäbe-Buglé region.
–
