The MAIZAR 2022 Congress gave concreteness to the return of face-to-face attendance, with packed rooms at the Goldencenter Complex in the city of Buenos Aires, although the grid of activities could also be seen in its transmission via streaming.
In the five rooms arranged, numerous panels and speakers passed, covering a wide range of topics related to cultivation. The multiplicity of food and non-food products that contain corn, the sustainability of corn and sorghum crops, the opportunity and the role in world food security of the countries of the Americas (particularly the United States, Brazil and Argentina), and the need for further industrialization were the central themes.
At the opening, the president of Congress and deputy general manager of ACA, Victor Accastello; the president of MAIZAR, Pedro Vigneau; and the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Nation, Julian Dominguez. Accastello explained the reason for the motto “Corn is always there”, presented for this year: “Corn is at breakfast, lunch, dinner. From the corn come the thickeners for soups, yogurts and ice creams. And also the sweeteners for candies and drinks. Sanitizing alcohol is derived from corn. Each gasoline car in Argentina has bioethanol from corn in its tank, ”he indicated, among other uses.
After referring to the work and the value that the chain adds, he remarked that “the environmental footprint of Argentine corn is one of the best in the worldand it will improve more if higher corn yields per hectare are obtained, with the intelligent use of agricultural inputs from plot settings and variable prescriptions for planting and fertilization.”
And he remarked that Argentine corn bioethanol can prove with certifications that it generates emissions savings greater than 70% with respect to the carbon footprint of gasoline under European standardsand thanks to this the country can export bioethanol to this demanding market: “Corn is an essential crop for sustainable agriculture. It is necessary that more corn be planted in our country, and that the transformation of this ‘magic grain’ into other products grow significantly in quantity and variety.
A “tailor-made” suit
Pedro Vigneau, for his part, showed the public his suit made from corn. The president of Congress reviewed the problems affecting the chain, such as export duties, the exchange rate gapthe delay in updating the 1973 Seed Law, the fertilizer import rates, the lack of dollars for inputs that must be brought from abroad, the technical balances of VAT, the shortage and increase in diesel prices.
Regarding economics, Vigneau indicated that The maize complex would contribute a record added value to the country this year: USD 17.4 billion. He also noted that it is the 2nd largest generator of foreign exchange from exports. “With the right stimuli, this chain can have exponential growth, and create much more federal development, because the transformation of corn makes economic, environmental and social sense if it is produced next to the lot, so as not to add more environmental footprint” .
Dominguez’s “disorders”
Minister Domínguez recalled that he was born in Chacabuco, which was the national capital of corn: “I have had the blessing of being a minister at a time when corn is the star, with an extraordinary growth horizon, which has not reached the ceiling” . He said that he shares with Accastello and Vigneau that it is a challenge for public policies to advance in added value through greater industrialization, and brought peace of mind about the lack of inputs, such as diesel and fertilizers. “I think that neither the sowing nor the harvest of the second semester are compromised”, he indicated.
However, given the claims made by his predecessors on the bench, the head of the national portfolio said that “he understood the role they have to play”, and addressing Vigneau directly, he underlined his essence as a producer by saying that he would not be. if I hadn’t made those claims. The reference was due to the problem of fuel shortages and instability, among other aspects.
In that sense, the minister apologized to the producers for the “disorders”.
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