Fruits and vegetables, Colombian strengths for FTAs

During the opening act of the Science, technology, art and culture week in Palmira campus, Agricultural Engineer Daniel Debouk, who counts on a master and a doctorate in Plant Diversity from the University of Brussels, talked about the food security in neo-tropical countries and how to take advantage of the FTAs.

"During the last ten years, countries and development banks have realized that food security is the basis for economical and social development. If this security is not guaranteed to the population, other sectors of the economy cannot be boosted," asserted Debouck.

This Belgian researcher, who is currently working as the director of the genetic resources program of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (ICTA), asserted that the country must focus on taking care of genetic resources, especially that of fruits and vegetables.

"Colombia needs to develop new methods in the Andean region to promote these sectors that really need a lot of work in terms of research in genetic resources. All this in order to take advantage of the products and boost agricultural expansion," asserted the researcher.

Debouck affirms that in Belgium, for instance, apple had to go through a long process to be known as high quality fruit; "it was a lot of time invested in research and genetic improving to enter in the global market. Colombia has to focus on the development of fruit and vegetable production, being patient and making a lot of efforts," said the expert.

"We are facing an important challenge that will occupy a big part of the country"s development for the next few years. These are positive changes in which we need to explore our productive lands, taking care of our resources, improving the roads and strengthening agriculture," concluded Debouck.