Disseminating and updating scientific and technological information on organic agriculture — farming free of toxic chemicals — is the aim of a Mar. 12-14 symposium in the Chilean capital. The 2nd International Symposium, sponsored by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Chile, will draw presenters from Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Farming without contaminants “is an important niche market, especially in terms of exports,” says Loreto Moya, communications director for the Quilamapu Regional Center of the governmental Agricultural Research Institute, organizer of the symposium along with the Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty at the private University of the Americas.