This document discusses sustainable agriculture in Argentina. It provides an overview of crops in Argentina and the new production environment with technologies like no-till farming and genetically modified crops. It notes that no-till has expanded significantly in Argentina. The document also discusses lessons learned from growing Roundup Ready corn, including benefits but also needs for crop rotation and integrated weed management to prevent resistance. It outlines the positive impacts of no-till farming on soil, environment, and farmers' costs and yields.

1. Sustainable agriculture in Argentina
Agustín Bianchini
Aapresid
Argentinean No-Till Farmers Association

2. Outline
- Overview of crops in Argentina.
- New production environment.
- What have we learned from RR corn?
- Sustainable agriculture certification.
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3. No-tillage expansion
World Total = 95 million ha
Latin America = 47 million ha
Argentina = 20 million ha
Source:
Source: Derpsch – AAPRESID (2006)
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4. No-Till evolution in Argentina (1977-2005)
No- (1977-
20
18
Area (Million hectares)
16
14
GMO
12
10
AAPRESID
8
6
4
2
0
1977/78 1986/87 1988/89 1990/91 1992/93 1994/95 1996/97 1998/99 2000/01 2002/03 2004/05
Source:
Source: AAPRESID (2005)

5. Introduction and adoption of technologies
in agriculture in Argentina (1980-2000)
100
Adoption of
GM varieties
80
Planted area (%)
Agro-chemical
60 use
No-tillage
40
20
Precision
Agriculture
0
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Source: Viglizzo, 2006; adapted from Satorre, 2005

6. New approach
Farmers are managing an offer
of environmental resources:
water, light, CO2, nutrients, etc.
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7. TRADITIONAL SUSTAINABLE
AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURE
Modification of the Adaptation of the plant
environment and the technology
(soil)
Plant Environment
Yield Sustainable production
potential
potential
Source: Gil (2005)

8. New environment
- More crops per unit of time (intensification)
- Reduction / elimination of chemical fallow
- High soil residue cover, with higher soil moisture
- Partial replacement of chemical Nitrogen by biological Nitrogen
(use of legumes)
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9. Agro-ecosystem biological changes
- Changes in pest populations (new pests)
- Higher soil biological activity, and pressure of soil fungi (stalk
and root diseases)
- New weed population patterns (diversity and abundance)
- High pressure of annual grasses (importance of RR technology),
but lower broadleaf pressure
- Medium presence of other species with small seeds
- Eventual appearance of glyphosate tolerant (Viola, Commelina,
Conyza, Cyperus, etc.)
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10. Specific needs
- Seed quality (energy, vigor, purity, calibration)
- Seed treatments
- Tools for managing soil diseases (biotechnology?)
- Selective residual herbicides for high residue cover
- Better control of RR crops, when they act as weeds
(volunteer RR corn, farmers need and have other options)
- Resistance prevention in weeds by application of integrated
weed management programs
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11. Crop rotation advantages: why corn in no-till?
• Diversification of productive risks
• Nutrient and water balance of crops
• Composition and density of soil residue cover
• Biological activity and diversity
• Interruption of weed and insect cycles
• Competition alternation for light, water and nutrients, for weeds
• Variation in the “application timing ” of herbicides
• Variation of the selective herbicides that are applied in each crop of
the rotation
• Improvement in soil physical conditions (structure and porosity)
• Intensification: use the stored water in NT
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12. Roundup Ready Corn in Argentina
- RR technology allowed to grow corn in weedy fields.
- In high weed pressure areas, grain yields were increased.
- RR corn has the same tolerance to selective herbicides as
conventional corn.

13. Roundup Ready Corn in Argentina
- Adopted by small (< 500 ha), medium, and large
farmers (> 5000 ha), since 2004.
- 70% of the crops in Argentina are under no-till.
- 47% of the corn is RR (mainly NK-603, and the rest is
GA-21), offered by around 10 seed companies.

14. Roundup Ready Corn in Argentina
- Typical Roundup Ready corn weed control program:
- Residual selective herbicide at pre-plant or pre-emergence
(atrazine, acetochlor), at low application rate, to guarantee a
good initial control, and to reduce the selection pressure of
glyphosate resistant biotypes.
- Post-emergence glyphosate at V4-V5 growth stage.

15. Roundup Ready corn weed control program
FALLOW PLANTING DEVELOPMENT HARVEST
V4-V5
Glyphosate
Residual herbicide
(atrazine, acetochlor)
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16. Roundup Ready Corn in Argentina
- Farmers must rotate crops and herbicides (2+ a.i.) to reduce weed
resistance risk.
- Use other herbicides (in combination with glyphosate) with the
lowest application rate and the appropriate timing, to make them
effective and avoid crop damage.

17. I – Context Analysis
The dilemma
“The humanity faces today a dilemma with no
apparent solution, between the ghost of the lack of
food for an increasing demand in quantity and
quality, or a destruction of the natural resources
needed to produce them”.
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18. II– The no-till system
Concept
New agricultural paradigm
Productive system based on the absence of
tillage and the presence of permanent soil
cover with crops and residues
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20. II– The no-till system
Positive impacts
- 90% less soil erosion.
- 40% less fuel use.
- Maintenance or improvement of the soil organic matter.
- Increase in soil fertility (chemical, physical and biological).
- Higher water use efficiency.
- Lower production costs.
- Higher production stability and yield potential.
TANGIBLE BENEFITS FOR THE FARMER
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21. II– The no-till system
Benefits, beyond the farmer
- Better soils, higher capability to produce food and energy.
- Less competition for drinkable water (strategic resource).
- Higher water quality (lower erosion and contamination risk).
- GHG emissions reduction, positive impact on climate change.
- Less pressure on HCV and fragile areas (by production increase).
- Possibility of producing in degraded and/or fragile lands
without the known risks of conventional tillage.
BENEFITS TANGIBLE FOR THE SOCIETY (EXTERNALITY)
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22. III– Productive and environmental quality
management system in CA
Objectives:
- To provide tools for a professional agronomical
management, by the ordered registry of information
and the analysis of the soil quality and efficiency
indicators.
- To show to the rest of the society how are the
production processes and its impact on the
environment, allowing to capture the value of the
positive externality that the CA makes in it.
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23. III– Productive and environmental quality
management system in CA
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
Why?
Because there are scientific fundamentals that
correlate soil health indicator values with
agronomical practices
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24. GAP 1: No Tillage (residue cover)
NO-TILLAGE is a synonym of crop residue

25. GAP 2: Crop rotation: Diversity and intensity
Coronel Suarez , Buenos Aires, Argentina
Federico Roveda (2007)

26. GAP 3: Balanced crop nutrition
+ Nitrogen
+ Phosphorus Control
+ Sulphur

27. GAP 4: Integrated pest, weed and disease management.
Including the correct agrochemical management and its containers

28. GAP 5:
Efficient and responsible management of agrochemicals

29. Certified Agriculture
It is the production alternative that
better combines the interests – many times
confronted – of reaching a production:
- Economically viable for farmers.
- Environmentally sustainable.
- Socially accepted.
- Energetically efficient.
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30. Thank you!!!!
bianchini@aapresid.org.ar
www.ac.org.ar/english
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31. Roundup Ready Corn in Argentina
The channel for GM corn does not require segregation,
unless there is a “GM-free” requirement by the customer.

32. Main international actions
- Participation in ISGA (International Soybean Growers Alliance)
- Participation in RTRS (Round Table on Responsible Soy Association)
- Participation in RSB (Round Table of Sustainable Biofuels)
- CA presentation in FAO workshop (July 2008, Rome)
- Presentation at the DG TREN for the Renewable Energy Directive
- Presentation in international events (EU, China, United States, Australia,
Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, etc.).
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33. New production system
No-tillage
Crop rotation
Technology
Biotechnology
Balanced fertilization
Monitoring, diagnosis and efficient
nutrient application
Integrated Pest Management
Weather forecasts management
Professional calibration of equipment
No-till is basically more knowledge
integrated in a production system

34. I – Context analysis:
Demand vs. Offer: At which cost?
The case of agriculture
Intensive tillage destroys the biological and
ecological integrity of the soil system (Reicosky,
2004).
Wind and water erosion, are a consequence of
conventional tillage and cause contamination of
the water resources.
A higher CO2 emission due to tillage increases the
greenhouse effect (Adapted from Moraes Sá,
2004).
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35. III– Productive and environmental quality
management system in CA
Components:
- Principles & Criteria:
- RTRS, RSB, ISGA, RTSPO, FSC, FAO
- Management indicators:
- in the soil
- resource use efficiency
- Good Agricultural Practices Protocol (GAP’s)
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36. III– Productive and environmental quality
management system in CA
Potential uses
1. Associated to the agronomical management:
- Decision making in ag management (crop rotation, fertilization, etc).
- Analysis of the evolution of the impact management in the system (time).
2. Associated to existing business or easily accessible:
- Credit evaluation (environmental and production balance).
- Carbon trading markets.
3. Associated to new businesses:
- Business by contract. Ex: food, biofuels.
- Added value, access to preferential markets.
- Traceability, ID preserved, segregation, mass balance, book & claim.
- Country brands (sustainability).
- GHG emissions, deforestation, social and labor rights
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37. •How did argentine farmers grow corn before the introduction of RR
hybrids?
•Is RR corn in Argentina adopted only in bigger farms or also in the
smaller one’s
•How does a typical RR corn weed control program looks like?
•Did the introduction of RR corn led to more corn monoculture?
•Do farmers pro-actively implement glyphosate weed resistance
management?
•What are the farmer benefits (including non-tangible benefits)?
•How does RR corn lead farmer to go for conservation tillage? did they
need to invest in equipment or had it already?
•Highlight benefit of Conservation tillage for sustainable agriculture.
•Details about the management of harvested RR corn at grain handler /
elevator level. Is there a different channeling for gm / non gm products?

38. Participation in international
events to position CA and
capture the value Agreement with SGS for
Aplication in more
(RTRS, RSB, ISGA, FAO) external audit and
than 50.000 ha. in
certification
Argentina.
Agreement with BCR
Elaboration of a Soil Testing Laboratory
Protocol and GAPs Agreement with
Manual AGROECOINDEX
Alliances with province
governments Agreement with
Wageningen University
Alliance with the / Dutch Embassy
Agribusiness Program for
strategic planning (UBA)
Agrolimpio Agreement
(CASAFE).
Validation and search
process for biological
indicators (BIOSPAS).

39. An improvement in soil porosity, increases water
use efficiency, by improving water infiltration,
decreasing runoff and evaporation
losses, and improving the water retention

40. I – Context analysis:
The demand
- It is estimated that in the next 50 years, the
population that today exceeds 6 billion people will
increase by 50%.
- In 2050 there will be between 9 billion people
(Solbrig, 2002) and 11 billion people (Izquierdo,
1998).
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41. I – Context analysis:
The offer
“In global terms, the humanity has responded to the
increase in the global demand of food and energy
(we are aware that distribution is a opened issue)”
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42. I – Context analysis:
Demand vs. Offer: At which cost?
Ecological Footprint: Area of land biologically
productive and water needs to provide
ecological resources and services (Demand)
Living Planet Report, 2008
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43. I – Context analysis:
Demand vs. Offer: At which cost?
Living Planet Report, 2008
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44. I – Context analysis:
Demand vs. Offer: At which cost?
Living Planet Report, 2008
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45. In NT the function of the roots and the fauna plays
an important role in the soil porosity regeneration

46. III– Productive and environmental quality
management system in CA
Indicators: why?
- Because they allow to access confident management information, with
scientific basis.
basis.
- To be able to observe quanti and qualitative recent changes in the
management and its impact in the system.
- To allow to integrate physical, chemical and biological properties and to
interpret complex processes.
- Because they allow to clarify processes: “ecological traceability”
(Viglizzo).
- Because they are tools to certify products and processes, and also to
create brands (Viglizzo).
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47. Agronomical Management Indicators
Sources Used:
• FAO, ISGA, FCAA, USB, RTRS, RSB, RSPO, Rain Forest Alliance
• National & international research studies
Peer review:
J.L. Arzeno (INTA Salta), N. Darwich (Consultor Privado), M. Díaz-Zorita
(FAUBA-Nitragin), M. Ferrari (INTA Pergamino), J. Galantini (UN del Sur), V.
Gudelj (INTA Marcos Juárez), E. Jobbagy (UN San Luis), M. Puente (Lab.
GEA San Luis), C. Quintero (UN Entre Ríos).
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48. Certified Agriculture
A commitment that Aapresid, as
organization assumes, to contribute to the
increase of the wellbeing of the local and
global society, in the conflict solution
Productivity vs. Environment.
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49. Agronomical Management Indicators
1.a. Direct Indicators:
PHYSICAL (R. Gil/A.M. Lupi) CHEMICAL (F. García/A. Bianchini)
– Texture – Phosphorus
– Bulk Density – Sulphur
– Total Porosity – Salinity/Sodicity(CE/PSI)
– Aireation Porosity – pH
– Water Infiltration
– Crop Residue Cover CARBON (R. Gil/A.M. Lupi)
– Soil Carbon Dynamics
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50. Agronomical Management Indicators
1.b. Indirect indicators:
- Crop rotation diversity and intensity.
- Nutrient balance (N, P, S).
- Fosil energy use (Agro-Eco-Index).
- Water use (Agro-Eco-Index).
1.c. Resource use efficiency:
- Water use efficiency (Agro-Eco-Index).
- Energy use efficiency (Agro-Eco-Index).
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51. I – Context analysis
Globalization: BIG
(Berlin, Internet, Gatt)
- Winners / losers syndrome (increase in gaps): However, this doesn’t
mean that when somebody wins, others necessarily must loose.
- An economy with competition sum zero must be replaced by an
economy with creation of values (win-win)
The concept is also applicable to the compatibility between
development and environment: Together with the “environment right”
we should institutionalize in the international community a
“development right” (di Castri, 2002).
- 4E paradigm (Economy, Energy, Ethics and Environment)
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52. I – Context analysis
Society of the Information
- That of the services and knowledge and the organization in networks
(Castells, 1996).
- That in which the traditional production factors: capital, land,
machinery, and labor are minimized in the economic importance, by the
fast appearance of the sciences and the new technologies and that
advances fast due to the explosion of communications (Palom Izquierdo,
2004).
- Importance of the Human Resources (di Castri, 2002)
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53. I – Context analysis:
The future offer
- Future scenarios (Solbrig, 2002):
1) The technology goes together, it is produced at the rhythm of the
demand. Environment?
2) Abandoned of the technological agriculture, no response to the
demand. Hunger/Wars?
3) Part of the world that produces food with technology, part without
technology and more price. Unstable equilibrium?
However, Solbrig (2003) says that the damage to the environment is not
inevitable.
- New opportunity of solution not so conflictive of the dilemma.
- New opportunity of business.
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54. I – Context analysis:
Searching for solutions
- Do we respond to the increase in demand?
Yes.
- What strategies do we know?
Increase by productivity and area expansion.
- Is the environmental damage inevitable?
No. There is an opportunity from agriculture.
Clean technologies (scientifically proven).
- Is the economic development compatible with the environmental
sustainability?
Necessarily, we need to work for that.
The No-Till certification is thought from this point of view
No-
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55. GAP 6: Cattle production

56. Certified Agriculture
It allows to show to the society how are the
production processes for food and energy, giving
the possibility to capture the value of the positive
externality that this production system generates
on the environment.
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57. IV– Conclusions of the QMS/CA
- Certification of productive processes in no-till. Innovative and
original proposal.
- General principles and standards with local adaptation, based on
GAP’s and soil quality indicators (scientific basis).
- Network structure, coordinated by NGO (Aapresid, key aspect in
the implementation, with global projection).
- Independent consultation and certification companies.
- Focus on agronomical and environmental management.
- Differentiation of the process and not the product
- Capture of the value by improving the agronomic management,
possibility of new businesses, and better price or access to
preferential markets.
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