The Embassy of Israel presented this week Agritech 2023, a summit where the main advances in Agricultural Technology are seen. This covers topics such as irrigation, fertilization and mechanization, and this year it will focus on food and water security.
Although the event is in Tel Aviv in October, the diplomatic representation from Costa Rica presented the progress and how some developments that that country has achieved could help in these latitudes.
“Israel, given its geographical conditions and limited natural resources, has become a leader in the development of agricultural technologies to address modern challenges such as climate change and food production for a constantly growing population,” said Ambassador Michal Gur-Aryeh.
“This means producing more with less, a motto that Israeli technology has adopted as its own and its agriculture has proven to increase the production and profitability of today’s more efficient, durable and ecological products,” she added.
Challenges and options for the region
The presentation took place at the headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).There, the hemispheric initiative Water and Agriculture was presented, which seeks to address the role of agriculture in the face of the water crisis that Latin America and the Caribbean is experiencing.
The goal is to generate public-private alliances for better management of water resources. This covers efficiency of water use, as well as its storage and correct management.
“Without water there is no agriculture, without agriculture there is no food security, especially since Latin America and the Caribbean is key to global food security: it produces 13% of food and is the most important net food exporting region,” indicated the Project Director, Fernando Schwanke.
The expert added that Israeli techniques could also be used in the task:
“Israel has very strong technologies to work on water use efficiency, and it is through innovative technologies that agriculture must be part of the solution to the water crisis,” he concluded.