Farmers in Paraguay Achieve Yield Increases through Agri-biotech

Ten years ago, 14 farmers in the San Juan Nepomuceno area of Caazapá, a department in Paraguay, took the challenge of securing the livelihood of their families through agricultural biotechnology. A report published by the Instituto de Biotecnología Agrícola (INBIO) reveals farmers in the department have achieved significant yield increases.

Fabio Vega, an extension worker with the Ministry of Agriculture, said the farmers who started the project had very low yields. With INBIO's support, the farmers learned how to plant genetically modified (GM) crops. They were also taught about different crop varieties and their management. They planted corn and cotton and achieved significant increases in their yields despite the sandy soil in the area. Sand content is more than 80% in the first 50-60 cm of the soil.

Farmer Trifón Ruiz Díaz only produced 800 kilograms per hectare of tupi pytá corn and 700 kilograms per hectare of chipá corn when they started. His cotton yield around 680 kilograms per hectare. Planting DKB390 Triple Pro corn, Díaz yielded 7,000 kilograms per hectare of corn and 2,970 kilograms per hectare of cotton.

For more details, read the translated English version of the original Spanish article in ABC Color.