Prices keep going up Food is one of the most affected items. And the inflation in this category, which by 2022 was 27.81%, has been boosted by the increase in the cost of agricultural inputs.
For this reason, the Minister of Agriculture, Cecilia López, has expressed her interest in promoting the production of these at a national level, to benefit producers and consumers.
(See: Roads and freight, agricultural solutions due to the closure of the Pan-American Highway).
Within the analysis, it is worth highlighting the state of bio-inputs in Colombia. According to the latest report from the Inter-American Institute of Cooperation for Agriculture (IICA), The country stands out especially for the production of biofuels sugar cane and palm oil, raw materials used in bioethanol and biodiesel.
The report shows that Colombia has a regulation of two laws: “one for ethanol, Law number 693 of 2001, which dictates regulations on the use of fuel alcohols and creates incentives for its production, commercialization and consumption; and for biodiesel, Law number 939 of 2004, which corrects regulatory defects and stimulates the production and marketing of biofuels of vegetable or animal origin for use in diesel engines”.
With data from the organization, the production of biodiesel between 2013 and 2021 showed a positive variation of 26%, while the annual growth only between 2020 and 2021 coincided with the previous one percentage.
In this sense, the production trend closed in 2021 with 720,000 m3.
(See: Healthy food appears in the diet of homes: this is reversed).
Facing the production of bioethanolbetween 2013 and 2021 showed a positive variation of 1%, while the data from 2020 to 2021 was 2%. Bioethanol production was positioned at 483,000 m3.
In matter consumption for biodiesel, the study stated that it had a trend parallel to the production between 2013 and 2021which indicates that ‘what is produced has been consumed internally’.
For its part, in the period of 2020 and 2021, the variation was 25%, marking a demand of 637,000 m3 during the last year.
(See: Labeling law would curb sales of food and beverages).
In the case of bioethanol, in the period 2013 to 2017 the consumption was stable, growing by 5%.
“However, from 2017 to 2021, greater volatility was observed. This way, consumption between 2018 and 2017 registered a growth of 33%, to then gradually decrease until returning to levels relatively similar to those of previous years. In 2018-2021, consumption contracted by -34%”, manifest.
(See: Pan-American Highway: will allow importation of animal feed).
Additionally, IICA highlights that the main raw material used for the production of biodiesel is palm oil. However, in recent years there has been a use of used cooking oils.
On the other hand, 100% of the bioethanol It is produced from the industrialization of cane sugar.
In accordance with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cecilia López, in dialogues with Briefcasethe importance of moving towards a more sustainable agriculture, proposing as a solution the national production of inputs for agriculture.
In terms of fertilizers, the portfolio has indicated that for produce them in Colombia there is a fundamental element that is the gas.
Additionally, Cecilia López, assured that “We are negotiating a US$50 million loan with the World Bank to generate a supply of bio-inputs. It will be done through the Ministry and the idea is to strengthen the production that already exists, to touch on the issue of supply again”.
Regarding the companies in this sector, once again the debate on the purchase of monomersthe Venezuelan petrochemical company of which the official maintained that “We are in that negotiation, we have to see what is Venezuela really offers us. We are waiting to define what they want and see if it suits us. But increasing the supply of inputs is a priority”.
For his part, Jorge Bedoya, president of the Society of Farmers of Colombia (SAC), explained that the transit to the sustainability It is important.
However, he stressed that for the matter of bioinputs “We must take into account the dimension of time for these changes. Today all the poultry manure, chicken manure and pork manure that is produced in Colombia can be seen, but its characteristics do not generate the same effect on soils and crops as fertilizers”finished off.
BRIEFCASE
