SADER, Chapingo to Promote Sustainable Management

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) signed a collaboration agreement with the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh). The alliance seeks to enhance research, innovation and sustainable management of Mexico’s soil and water resources. 

UACh is a public higher education institution in Mexico. It teaches and carries out research regarding agronomic and environmental sciences, focused mainly on rural development. “This agreement will strengthen the work done by SADER so far under the National Soil Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture. I am sure that Chapingo will contribute significantly to these tasks and in improving the economic, social, cultural and quality of life conditions of the rural population,” said Areli Cerón, Director of the Soil and Water Unit, SADER.

The National Soil Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture (ENASAS) compiles 120 actions to promote and increase the sustainable management of the country’s agricultural soil and thereby contribute to food security and the well-being of the population. The strategy was published this year in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF). According to Victor Villalobos, the Minister of Agriculture, ENASAS represents a response to the urgent need to organize, coordinate and strengthen actions aimed at the sustainable management of the country’s soil.

According to Cerón, the Mexican countryside is being abandoned in favor of cities, so it is up to the younger generations to alter paradigms and promote the principles of sustainable agriculture.

On Dec. 5, 2022, in the framework of World Soil Day, Villalobos, informed that over this year, SADER has implemented several mechanisms to achieve the goal of preserving the health and quality of the soil and thereby maintaining and even increasing its productivity. These mechanisms include the ENASAS as well as other priority programs such as Fertilizers for Welfare or Sowing Life. 

Villalobos stressed that SADER, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), promotes actions toward the sustainable management of agricultural soil and the rehabilitation of what has already been degraded too much. In addition, he said that to optimize the use of agricultural inputs and production costs to generate sustainable, safe, nutritious and affordable food for the Mexican population, SADER has delivered more than 244 courses on different topics related to soil nutrition, such as nutritional needs of plants and soil, biogeochemical processes and interaction of microorganisms, among others.