Chile: FIA prioritizes to innovation in sustainable agriculture
A total of 30 national initiatives call for “Research and Innovation Projects in sustainable agriculture” have been approved by the Council of FIA. The contest was aimed at the management of natural, productive and technological resources in a sustainable manner, enabling them to face the changes in the behavior of the climatic variables that affect structurally to farming, agrifood and forestry sector.
Currently, water availability and temperature are having a significant impact on the ability of certain areas for agricultural production, creating the need to increase the adaptability of production systems in a wider range. “We then, projects under this competition can develop and validate new production alternatives that fit the observed changes in climate variables and their behavior over time. Or that generate aimed at solving problems related to the alteration of yields, quality and profitability of production systems as a result of climate variability solutions,” the executive director of FIA, Héctor Echeverría.
For this purpose the call focused on four important areas. The first one is related to the management of water resources, where innovations to increase the availability, access, quality and efficiency in water use in agricultural production systems is sought; Another area is diversification, which focuses on the introduction, domestication, adaptation or improvement of species and varieties that allow the accommodation of production systems to the new climatic conditions, as well as market opportunities.
It has also prioritized efforts to help prevent and control the introduction of new pests and diseases or further spread of those already existing in the country; and finally, initiatives to develop and validate technology solutions and measures to minimize the negative effects of abiotic stress situations, such as the beating sun, hail, frost and heavy rains, among others.
The deadline for implementation of the initiatives is up to 48 months and 12 months studies. FIA noted that this list was approved with comments and / or conditions for their award, which will be notified to each applicant entity by letter.
Source: FIA
