Welcoming the participants, IICA Director General Chelston Brathwaite said, “We are delighted with the cooperation among research institutions in the Southern Region, which, under PROCISUR’s leadership, has evolved continuously over the last 25 years.
The Cooperative Program, created in 1980 with support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), supports the Southern Cone countries by promoting research activities in the agricultural sector.
“We believe that IICA has important things to contribute. We know you are working on important projects and we must find a way to take them on board,” said the President of PROCISUR’s Management Committee, Carlos Cheppi.
During the activity, the Committee approved the 2008 Annual Work Plan and decided how to finance an innovative project, a South American platform for dealing with biotic and abiotic stress caused by Asian Soybean Rust.
The Committee also discussed the Fifth International Meeting of the Forum for the Americas on Agricultural Research and Technology Development (FORAGRO 2008), which will be held in July in Montevideo, Uruguay.
The representatives of PROCISUR also met with senior officials from the Central American agricultural technology system (SICTA), with a view to establishing a working relationship with the network.
Based on PROCISUR’s Medium Term Plan and IICA’s cooperation agenda, the participants discussed common priorities related to issues such as biofuels, climate change, family agriculture and biotechnology.
Toward the end of the meeting, the members of PROCISUR’s Management Committee, accompanied by senior Institute officials, visited the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE).
“This is a historic meeting, it is an example of integration between Central and South America, something that will benefit everyone,” Cheppi said.