On Thursday, August 12, Bioleft held a virtual meeting between corn farmers, technically and researchers with the aim of sharing the results of different evaluation experiences.
Daniel Presello began by commenting on the evaluation carried out at the INTA Pergamino Agricultural Experiment Station (EEA), which included different materials, both experimental and commercial, aimed at agroecological and organic farming.
Then, Enrico Cresta shared the results of the trial he carried out in his field together with Bioleft, in which, in addition to some of the materials provided by the EEA INTA Pergamino, he evaluated his own variety free of GMOs (<0.1%) and, as a control, a commercial non-GMO hybrid commonly used in his field, the Dow Mil522.
He was followed by Eduardo Musacchio, a professor at FAUBA, who shared the data obtained from a trial at that institution where the same materials as in Enrico's field were evaluated, with the exception of the Dow control hybrid.
Finally, the farmer Milton Vélez also commented on what was observed in his field, and the researcher Carlos Galarza shared the results obtained at the EEA INTA Marcos Juárez where both Milton's materials, as well as those of the producer Claudio Demo and the experimental varieties were evaluated. of the EEA INTA Pergamino.
In addition to the aforementioned actors, other producers interested in starting to self-produce seeds participated both because of the advantages that this implies and because of the difficulty in accessing seeds suitable for their productive conditions.
Beyond the results themselves, the participants highlighted the importance of collaborative work and the circulation of information, the use of varieties for production, and the interaction with organizations such as universities, INTA and Bioleft that are beginning to attend, in a participatory manner, plant breeding demands left aside by the private sector.
In this sense, it was agreed to stay in contact to start a jointly coordinated work.