Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Opposition to Chinese Plan for Patagonia Soy

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 18 2010 (IPS) - Environmental and citizen groups in the southern Argentine province of Río Negro are sounding the alarm against China's multi-million-dollar plan to expand soybean production in the area. According to members of the Piuké Ecologist Association along with high-level officials of the provincial government, an agreement with China could be signed at month's end during a trip to China by Governor Miguel Saiz.

The plan calls for an investment of 100 million dollars for an irrigation system that would allow the cultivation of 200,000 non-adjoining hectares of soy, activist Alejandro Yanniello told Tierramérica.

“In order to convert that arid soil into cultivable land they are going to remove and destroy other crops and plants, damaging biodiversity and food sovereignty,” he said.