PROCINORTE Now Focuses on Soil, Water and Climate Change in North America

PROCINORTE is an IICA network of national agricultural research bodies in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. It supports public agricultural research agendas, workshops and innovation through sound science and knowledge-sharing in areas of trilateral relevance. The “Cooperative Program in Research and Technology for the Northern Region” or PROCINORTE, was established in 2000. Its mission is to enhance the sector’s productivity and competitiveness to improve food safety; genetics; animal and plant health; soil and water health from climate change impacts; and to contribute to capacity building through technical cooperation. PROCINORTE has had many successes. For instance, a non-destructive testing system for avocado maturity was developed in partnership with Mexico’s INIFAP, and CID BIO SCIENCE, Inc. This device enables the avocado industry within the northern region to improve quality of the product, reduce waste and losses, and increase farmer profitability. Similar benefits have been found in Canadian cherries and Mexican mangoes. As the new Secretariat moved to Canada in July 2020, Dr. Jean-Charles Le Vallée now serves as PROCINORTE’s Executive Secretary. Therefore, IICA Canada is committed to integrating regional cooperation in the northern region and transferring knowledge to other member countries in Latin-America and the Caribbean including through webinars. PROCINORTE hosted several activities for 2020 including two well attended events: one in animal health on “Emerging and Re-Emerging Diseases of Livestock with High Economic,” and a second in plant health on “Priority and Emerging Issues in Tomatoes,” such as the tomato brown rugose virus which has only recently been found in Canada and U.S. Our newest priority is the Soil, Water and Climate Change Task Force which seeks to promote robust agri-ecosystems through knowledge sharing and research. To learn more about this research network, see www.procinorte.net