Argentine delegation on study tour in Germany on the topic of innovation policy

The aim of the first study tour carried out within the framework of the "German-Argentine Dialogue for Sustainable Agricultural Innovations" (DAAIAS) was to get to know German agricultural innovation policy in relation to sustainable agriculture, low-carbon agriculture, smart agriculture, biotechnology and bioeconomy as well as to visit various institutions and pilot projects. Contacts between the Argentinian participants of the study tour and the German public, private and academic institutions were to be established and the project's network expanded. Stops on the trip were Poing, Munich, Freising, Kulmbach, Leipzig and Berlin.

Applied research for rapid implementation

The delegation visited several research institutions that focus on the practical and application-oriented development of agricultural innovations. The agenda included visits to the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging, the BMEL-funded Digital Experimental Fields DigiMilch and EXPRESS, and the German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ).

Here it became clear how central cooperation is between the public sector, science and the private sector in order to take an innovation from the initial idea to market launch and broad application.

Innovation policy at federal and state level

In addition, the Argentinean guests were able to exchange ideas with employees of the public administration at federal and state level on the topic of innovation promotion. With the State Office for Agriculture, Environment and Geology (LfULG) and the State Ministry for Regional Development (SMR), two of the central institutions for innovation promotion in Saxony were represented, presenting the EIP-Agri programme and the simul+ Innovation Hub respectively.

At federal level, the delegation was received at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). Here, the innovation funding, the strategy for the digitalisation of agriculture and the work in the field of bioeconomy were presented.

Great potential for deepening German-Argentinean cooperation

The trip was an excellent opportunity to explore the potential for Argentine-German cooperation. During the various discussions, several topics crystallised on which Argentina and Germany could work together. Common challenges were also identified, such as the relatively low uptake of technology by producers, problems with Internet connectivity on land and farms, and too many and non-integrated platforms for data processing. The DAAIAS therefore strives to promote solution-oriented cooperation between German and Argentinean institutions, in which both countries learn from each other's experiences and also tackle common goals together.