Bayer Crop Science is the first strategic partner in the “Living Soils of the Americas” initiative

Bayer Crop Science has become the first strategic partner in the “Living Soils of the Americas” initiative, launched by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and Professor Rattan Lal, Director of the Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration (C-MASC ), to combat soil degradation — a phenomenon that is threatening countries' ability to meet their food demands.

The announcement was made by Natasha Santos, Vice President of Strategy and Global Stakeholder Affairs at Bayer Crop Science, a company that has a general ongoing cooperation agreement with IICA, primarily to promote agricultural development and rural well-being , as well as to support agribusiness in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Among other priorities, the framework of the agreement includes the exchange of agricultural and scientific knowledge, advanced management strategies, technical cooperation and expansion of training programs to drive sustainability and food security.

“As a scientific and agricultural organization, Bayer is working to deliver new innovations and business models that will help farmers restore soil health and reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint. We are pleased to be the first private sector entity to embark on the “Living Soils of the Americas” initiative and we look forward to working with IICA and Professor Lal to find solutions that sustainably meet the demand for food”, emphasized Natasha Santos.

Manuel Otero, General Director of IICA, highlighted the importance of reversing soil degradation, as it is an “urgent challenge we face”, indicating that living soil is crucial for productivity, producers’ income, biodiversity and well-being of rural and urban communities.

Otero highlighted that, “the soil rewards those who treat it correctly with greater levels of productivity, as well as ecosystem services and biodiversity. In short, it improves the well-being of the families that live in it,” said Otero, emphasizing the strategic nature of public-private partnerships.

The “Living Soils of the Americas” initiative is a broad collaborative effort between the public and private sectors, in which technical cooperation will work with governments, international organizations, universities, the private sector and civil society organizations to contribute to reducing land degradation. land and agriculture that is depleting organic matter in the soil.

Soil is an essential natural resource for human development, and maintaining the health of cultivated land is one of the most important challenges currently facing agriculture in the Americas.

This degradation, which is accelerating at alarming speeds, threatens the world's ability to sustainably meet both current and anticipated future food demand.