Ecuador optimistically celebrates the democratic arrival of a new president, with justified hopes in the young Daniel Nobo, although it will be a short government, he will have to undertake selected priorities that do not involve large expenditures; In the agricultural field, the essence of this column, several are needed, but it would play an excellent role with a futuristic projection if it devoted a good part of its efforts, giving it a mechanism that promotes its competitiveness, together with profitability for the Ecuadorians who are They they dedicate themselves to cultivating the land. We think of the stagnation suffered by research, the foundation on which the development of the sector is based, but focused on modern technologies such as genome editing, which is already successfully applied in Uruguay and Chile, Peru and Colombia are moving towards adoption, we must transform ourselves into a leader in the innovation of tropical biotechnology.

A new breath for urban agriculture

It is a method of improving the plant, fast and safe, which requires investments that the state cannot afford, but the proposed scheme would consist of obtaining the support of large business conglomerates that participate in the trade and industrialization of Ecuadorian agricultural products, in the commercialization of its production inputs. We suggest that you invite representatives of private organizations such as Syngenta or Bayer, Del Monte, Dole, BASF, Antama and the national Innovagro that groups them in the country and design a project that includes Iniap, universities with agricultural and livestock faculties, with the support of unions for farmers and exporters, which adapts, initiates and finances already prepared plans that do not advance with the intensity and efficiency required by time and agriculture.

Big risks in the agricultural sector

In the specific case of bananas, there are already blocked programs due to the lack of adequately funded budgets aimed at obtaining a new improved variety of ours, susceptible to the attack of the deadly fungus Fusarium, tropical race 4, without another effective form of control. related to the uniqueness of the Ecuadorian fields, mostly of small capacity, preserving the market characteristics of Cavendish species of indisputable value and world preferences, with non-transgenic methodology, it would simply be about editing their genes without incorporating foreigners into the species, until a fruit with identical characteristics to the current one is obtained, so much that its genetically manipulated origins could not be identified to the human eye and taste.

The technical table for the determination of the minimum support price for bananas for 2024 was placed with the third proposal

The Ministers of Agriculture of the European Union decided on September 3 in Córdoba, Spain, to accept the regulations for the entry of agricultural products originating from the technique of genetic modification, which means that there will be no restrictions on their access to that market. significance for Ecuador. The increase in the presence of bananas and other products from such refined species on the Old Continent is a positive step. Another aspect that would not require economic effort would be the restructuring of the branch ministry, restoring its reduced functions and increasing its reduced budget. (OR)