MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay plans to regulate area dedicated to soy

The Uruguayan government is planning to implement a program of permit-requests for the sowing of soybeans the coming season as part of a plan for the conservation of the soil sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

However the program has been severely criticized arguing that the soil conservation plan is but a mere excuse to contain the expansion of land dedicated to soybeans. "We're going to establish a previous permit request" for soybeans next season said Deputy Minister Andres Berterreche, which later will be extended to other crops. The announcement was made following several meetings of government officials with farmers' organizations where the need to regulate the Soils Bill was considered. In a document subscribed by the main farmers' organizations, direct sowing was underlined as a great improvement for agriculture and soil conservation but did not prevent loss of good farming land to erosion. Farmers said that much has to be researched and tested still from soil management, drainage, fertilization, weeding to cultivation in poor agriculture soil, which in Uruguay has traditionally been dedicated to sheep farming. Farmers' organizations also pointed out that the new system for leasing and renting land still leaves a considerable "physical and interests distance" between the farmer and the future use of the land, and the responsibility of the land proprietor. As a consequence of the export farm taxes system and political interference in agriculture many Argentine farmers and consortia have crossed to neighboring Uruguay to plant mainly soybeans, which is high yielding but can rapidly exhaust the soil. The irruption of big agro-businesses (Argentina magnitude) in Uruguay has caused concern about land property, land use and the established influence of the farmers' sector in the country's decision making process. Uruguayan farmers also fear that unregulated soy cultivation by big financial groups could interfere with other activities such as livestock for beef, dairy and other crops.