Bioinputs development for a path to sustainable specialization: capabilities, opportunities and policy recommendations for Argentina

Abstract

Given the worldwide problems around climate change, environmental pollution, and projections of population growth, food security together with a more sustainable agricultural production paradigm become central challenges. Thus, the use in the agricultural sector of pesticides and chemical fertilizers faces increasing limitations. In fact, a group of countries and regions such as the European Union, the United States, China, among others, have been conducting for several years a series of policies aimed at regulating the use of chemical synthesis products and the promotion of inputs of biological origin (IPCC, 2021; OECD/FAO, 2019; IICA, 2019; Hodson de Jaramillo et al., 2019; Rodríguez et al., 2019, Bisang and Trigo, 2017). Argentina, as one of the main food producers worldwide, plays a relevant role in food security, and faces the challenge of reconverting the techno-productive matrix of the agricultural sector to reduce the use of agrochemicals, and move towards the diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies such as bio-inputs. In this sense, the work presents an in-depth diagnosis of scientific-technological and productive capacities, market opportunities and a series of policy guidelines to promote the early development of these technologies.