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02. About us
How do we do what we do? P.06
professionals that promotes the sustainable production of food, fibers and energy.
years of history
members
1.8k hectares using the best technology influence across +11M
Since the beginning of agriculture (almost 10,000 years ago), man has used tillage as the main technique to cultivate the land. Tillage involves the use of machines such as ploughs or discs, removing the upper layers of the soil for different purposes: burying residues from previous harvests so that they decompose, dismantling hard clods, killing weeds and refining the land.
However, the negative effects of the systematic use of tillage began to be observed: erosion, loss of fertility, falls in crop yields, flooding, etc.
.The first inches of soil, the most fertile portion, is the most susceptible to erosion.
.Around 0.40 inches of soil takes hundreds to thousands of years to generate.
.33% of the world´s soils are already being degraded.
.We have 30 harvests left until we have degraded 90% of the world´s soils.
No-till farming is a technique that allows the land to be cultivated without the need for tillage. The seed of the crop is placed in a small furrow in the soil. Outside this furrow, the soil remains in its natural state, covered and protected by residues from previous crops.
Its structure remains intact, as does the underground ecosystem. Through its tunnels circulate air and water; its agglomerates of minerals and organic matter are the habitat of worms, mites, bacteria, fungi, among other organisms.
This underground life represents 25% of the planet's biodiversity (¼ of the Planet's biodiversity.) It is also responsible for keeping them healthy and fertile, and for ensuring many of the ecosystem services that soils provide.
Source of our food: 95% of food comes from the soil, as well as 15 of the most important nutrients for human life.
An ally against climate change: they are the largest reservoirs of organic carbon on the planet. Through plants, they take CO2 from the atmosphere (one of the gases responsible for global warming) and store it as organic matter, improving their fertility.
Source of biodiversity: they are home to 25% of the planet's biodiversity and contain - in just one tablespoon - more organisms than people on Earth.
Source of ecosystem services: in addition to sequestering carbon and providing food, soil provides humanity and the Planet with other services such as water supply; flood and drought regulation, nutrient recycling, fiber and fuel supply, water purification and pollutant reduction, etc.
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Argentina is the global leader in non-till farming adoption: while in the world this technique does not exceed 15% of the cultivated area, in our country it occupies 90% of the agricultural area.
Even with its low global adoption, this technology prevents the erosion loss of 700 million tons of soil/year worldwide.
The no-till farming system prevents the erosion loss of 700 million tons of soil/year worldwide.
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Nature is, in essence, diversity. To be sustainable, agriculture must incorporate as much diversity of species and activities as possible. Alternating different crops in time and space is essential to promote the balance of the ecosystem. This diversity includes other activities beyond agriculture, such as grazing livestock, forest production, and horticulture, among others.
“Life in landscapes all year round” Why? Because the relationship between cultures and soil life is constant. In the soil area around the roots there is intense activity: plants and microorganisms exchange nutrients, protective substances, shelter, water, energy. This activity is crucial to boost crop productivity and soil health. That is why it is essential that the fields remain with growing plants as long as possible.
Crops need nutrients to grow and produce, just as oil organisms need them to live. For this reason, balanced nutrition is a key aspect of sustainable agriculture.
For this, it is crucial to make the most of the nutrients that Nature gives us. For instance, there are crops associated with soil bacteria to capture gaseous nitrogen from the atmosphere and transform them into organic forms to feed plants. Others favor carbon fixation, which is added to the soil to form humus, a source of fertility.
It also involves permanently monitoring the levels of nutrients in the soil, replenishing those that are carried away by the crops at each harvest, and ensuring that the nutrients are actually available for the crops
nos da la Naturaleza. Por ejemplo, hay cultivos que asocian a bacterias del suelo para capturar en Nitrógegaseoso de la atmósfera y transformarlos a formas orgánicas para nutrir las plantas. Otros favorecen la fijade carbono, que se suma al suelo para formar el humus, fuente de fertilidad.
New technologies are key allies of sustainable agriculture. Precision agriculture, Agtech, new crop varieties, machinery, etc. are fundamental to maximize efficiency in the use of resources and minimize negative impacts on the environment.
.Selective applications of weed control products reduces the volume of product used by up to 70%.
.Digital tools and sensors in seed drills prevent the loss of up to 500 kg/ha of corn.
.GM soybeans allowed Argentina to reduce the environmental impact quotient (EIQ) of the use of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides by 30%.
However, we all know that sustainability does not admit magic solutions. The search for better ways to produce must be the result of a network innovation process that meets certain conditions:
· Rely on the knowledge of science and the experience of producers. Why? No one knows the needs and challenges in their fields better than the producer, who in turn needs science to generate effective solutions, supported by scientific methodology and conducted with it.
In turn, producers are the best “catalysts” to scale the adoption of new technologies. “Nothing is more reliable for a producer than the experience of another producer”
· Occur in real production scenarios. A tool that works in a certain environment or situation may not be the most suitable in others. The search for sustainability must inevitably take place at the local level.
Aapresid has more than 20 R&D projects led by producers throughout the country to seek sustainable “down-to-earth” solutions with scientists and companies.
For this reason, our network innovation methodology is based on these steps:
1. Exchange information and experiences at local level.
2. Common issues and challenges identification
3. Experimenting solutions: - in real producting scenarios - based on science and the knowledge of the farmers - developing prived-public aliances
4. Appling & scalling better productive systems that anticipate futures scenarios.
5. Guaranties sustainability of production through certification systems.
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Consumers around the world are increasingly aware of the impact of their eating decisions and habits. Producers must be prepared to respond to those demands. Agriculture must have schemes that guarantee the sustainable origin of its raw materials.
In addition, “what is not measured cannot be improved”. It is key that producers have tools to measure and manage indicators in the field to gain efficiency and be more sustainable: carbon footprint, water use, environmental impact, etc.
CO2 is one of the gases responsible for global warming and climate change. All human activities generate emissions: transport, industry, and agriculture, which contributes almost a third of global CO2-eq emissions.
Some of the main emission factors in the area include: land use changes, livestock, fertilizer use and fossil fuel consumption associated with the use of irrigation machinery and equipment.
However, agriculture also has the opportunity to become an ally in the fight against climate change. How? Through soils, which are the largest reservoirs of organic carbon on the planet.
Plants take CO2 from the atmosphere, and store it as organic matter in the soil. This process has two benefits: it improves the fertility and health of soils and reduces the presence of CO2 in the atmosphere.
No till-farming systems are allies to boost this “carbon bomb”. Basically due to the following:
- They reduce CO2 emissions by 40%. Regarding tillage, no-till farming techniques minimize the oxidation of soil organic carbon and its emission into the atmosphere as CO2. They also reduce the consumption of fossil fuel associated with tillage machines (by 60%).
In the last 25 years, no-till farming techniques in Argentina avoided the emission into the environment of more than 18 million tons of carbon, equivalent to the annual consumption of 3.9 million cars.
- Duplicate Carbon Capture. The presence of growing crops all year round stimulates uninterrupted photosynthesis. This process is enhanced when these crops are of various species, for example, by alternating gramineae and legumes.
In 2020/21 the no-till farming technique allowed to increase the carbon sequestered from the environment by 7.3 million tons, and 121 million tons in the last 25 seasons.
By massively adopting practices promoted by Aapresid, we could reduce emissions from Argentine agriculture by more than 50%.
Why is our agriculture an ally against climate change?
Agriculture represents, on average, 70% of the fresh water extracted in the world. Due to population growth, urbanization, and climate change, competition for and demand on water resources is expected to increase. To meet the demand for water in the future, between 25% and 40% of this resource must be reallocated to more productive activities that generate more employment, especially in regions affected by hydric stress. In most cases, the reallocation is expected to come from agriculture (World Bank).
In this context, the water resource is particularly important, as is its efficient use, making the most of every drop.
In Argentina, we have 2 attributes that position us before the world in this sense:
- 95% of the agricultural area is cultivated using the dryland farming technique (without supplementary irrigation)
- More than 90% of this area is cultivated using the non-till farming technique
The no-till farming system generates increases in water productivity of up to 25%, that is, it allows producing 25kg more grains for each millimeter of water consumed.
The farming system allows producing 25kg more grains for every millimeter of water consumed.
This is thanks to the fact that, in no-till farming, the soils function as “sponges”. When it rains, surface coverage captures the water and prevents it from draining superficially (even more so when the rain is intense.) The strong and porous structure (thanks to the fact that there are no tillage that alters it) allows water to enter deeply and be retained in the pores of the soil for long periods. In addition, that water is more easily used by crops.
Why is our agriculture an ally against climate change?
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It is estimated that by 2050 agricultural production will increase by almost 50% (FAO). On the other hand, because of the increase in incomes in much of the developing world, the consumption of calories and foods that are more complex will increase ( World Bank ). In this context, sustainable soil management can enable 58% increases in global food production (FAO).
The no-till farming system allows increasing crop yields (on average up to 25%.) Only between 1970 and 2012, the no-till farming system increased the total production of the main grains (soybean, corn, sorghum, sunflower, wheat, and barley) from 20 to almost 100 million tons. It is important to note that new technologies, the best use of fertilization, and the best crop varieties contributed significantly to this growth.
However, it is not all about increasing production. In the face of a changing climate, it is necessary to ensure the stability of production, that is, the ability to sustain yields in situations of stress, especially hydric stress. Thanks to improved water management, soils with no-till farming techniques better resist water fluctuations, that is, the alternation of periods of drought and excess rainfall.
Besides, being protected, soils with no-till farming techniques temper changes in soil temperature, which is key to maintaining biological activity and controlling evaporation.
In 40 years of adoption, no-till farming techniques allowed Argentina to increase the total production of the main grains by 80 million tons.
Why is our agriculture an ally against climate change?
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The strategic alternation of crops in time and space as well as the promotion of soil biological activity are key allies for the capture and cycling of nutrients for crops.
For example, legumes naturally fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and accumulate it in the soil in organic forms, leaving this nutrient available for later cultivation. The farming of these species prior to corn crops allows, for example, reducing their requirements of this nutrient and the need to apply synthetic fertilizers by up to 50%.
This same strategy is key to controlling certain pests, such as weeds. The use of service crops capable of covering the soil and competing with weeds for resources such as light, water, and nutrients is a tool capable of achieving controls of more than 70% and reducing, at the same time, the environmental impact by half (with a lower need for chemical controls).
Crop diversification reduces by half the dependence on chemical inputs such as fertilizers or phytosanitary products.
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AAPRESID PROYECT
In sustainable pest management, there is one factor that cannot be missing: access to information and producers' knowledge. This is the main purpose of our PMN. This national network made up of producers, specialists, and companies generates local information and warnings of the following: - new cases of resistance, - pest progress mappings in each region, - field trials to evaluate control strategies.
AAPRESID PROYECT
This project led by AAPRESID, Proyungas, and the Moises Bertoni Foundation (with the support of the Land Innovation Fund) proposes an innovative approach to sustainability in the Argentine Gran Chaco: a region where agricultural production coexists with vulnerable wild areas. How? Integrating best agricultural practices with natural landscape conservation strategies. The goal: to maximize carbon sequestration in these environments and capture the value of more sustainable production.
AAPRESID PROYECT
Soils are the largest reservoir of organic carbon on the planet, since they are able to store 2 to 3 times more carbon than the atmosphere. However, in Argentina, the average agricultural soil is less than 50% of its maximum storage capacity.
However, there are producers who successfully manage to bridge this gap between the current situation and what is achievable. With more than 850 sampling points nationwide, Aapresid's Carbon Gap Network seeks to:
1- quantify soil carbon gaps by region,
2- identify practices and strategies that help sequester more carbon, and
3- provide tools that help producers approach their achievable maximum levels of capturing
The potential of the project: the adoption of best agronomic practices could increase soil carbon sequestration and reduce emissions from Argentine agriculture by more than 50%.
AAPRESID PROYECT
Our network of producers throughout the country is eager for tools to measure their performance and permanently improve themselves. In addition, they are aware that the raw materials they produce result in food and by-products that reach demanding consumers, who seek sustainability, quality, and safety in what they choose.
In 2008, we created the first national standard for the certification of best productive, environmental, and social practices: Certified Sustainable Agriculture (CSA). This seal is audited in the field by leading certifiers and is now endorsed by organizations such as the International Trade Center (ITC) and the European Feed Manufacturers'; Federation (FEFAC).
However, CSA tool is also a tool for efficient management since it offers a system for the ordering and recording of field processes, as well as a dashboard of productive, environmental, and social indicators so that companies can evaluate their performance and improve.
