Argentina was included in the agrochemical-impacts study as an example of a major exporter of genetically modified soybeans, a large contributor to the country’s foreign exchange earnings. (Photo/Shutterstock)
An Argentine research institution’s suspension of its participation in a study of agrochemical impacts on health and the environment highlights the touchiness of that topic in agro-export-dependent Argentina. Argentina’s National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), a state-run research organization, agreed in 2020 to gather data in the country for a project known as Sustainable Plant Protection Transition: A Global Health Approach (Sprint). Also involving scientists from 27 European research centers, Sprint aims to create more modern means of monitoring agrochemical impacts on humans and the environment and use them to develop more sustainable approaches to pest and weed control. The project, funded with a European Union research and innovation grant, has focused on 11 European countries in addition to Argentina, the only non-European partner. Argentina was included because it exports transgenic soybeans to Europe, says Sprint coordinator Violette Geissen, professor of soil degradation and land management... [Log in to read more]
