Latin American governments are juggling to strengthen their economies, where the best alternative is to increase exports in order to maintain a surplus in the trade balance. In the Ecuadorian case, the unmistakable remedy lies in the promotion of non-oil exports, including those in the agricultural sector. and to ensure successful harvests of goods which, amazingly, are still imported when the country would have too much of them with a quality equal to or better than that coming from abroad. Imports of cereals, vegetables and fruit trees grown on the coast, the Sierra and the Amazon continue to appear in the statistics.

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The current regime must urgently resolve the imbalances, acquire more foreign exchange and food products that reduce costs and keep inflation under control. At the same time, it must reduce poverty and unemployment rates, having in the vast agricultural sector an immediate response to all deficiencies, but it must act decisively and firmly, with timely measures based on climate cycles. Last week we pointed out that corn is an item of quick results, in less than five months it could achieve economic contributions and work that will satisfy the anxious waiting of large segments of the population. For now, we do not know the plan for short cycle crops, some should already be in the sowing stage, where will the certified seeds that must be used come from, whether there will be enough supplies of low-toxic fertilizers and pesticides, what will be the estimate of the amount of collection and the new marketing mechanisms announced as elements of change. Will the republic be divided according to the different species to be planted, is there enough capacity for technical and credit assistance to exceed traditional yields? These are some of the questions that Ecuadorians are asking themselves regarding the expectations that the new administration has fulfilled. They may already be taken care of, but are being ignored by the farming community.

I am reminded of the beginning of the ministerial administration of Marcelo Laniad, when he simply explained in understandable graphic representations published in the media what the goals of his work would be, the places of development, the numerical goals and the expected results not only in plant species of short duration, but also in permanent plantations, as which are cocoa, coffee, banana, plantain, etc. Now there are new challenges in dragon fruit, avocado and others with an unbeatable future.

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President Nobo must show, no matter how short his mandate, that he is capable of introducing drastic changes with immediate effect. The solution will be found in agriculture, he must support it with enthusiasm and urgency. One would say, the urgency is similar to that of the Argentinian counterpart, who will receive an incentive for his radical measures with a harvest of 137 million tons for next April, the second best in the history of the southern country, having managed to equal the unpopular retention while increasing the export of agricultural and food products. (OR)