The former president of Colombia made, in an economic forum, a surprising discovery: he said that Paraguay is one of the countries with the greatest potential for untapped economic development. If someone donated just US$10 to the Public Treasury every time something like that is said, today Paraguay would be overflowing with foreign currency.
We are, without a doubt, the country of potentials. In the 70s of the last century, a retired military man advocated the production of alcohol from cassava, bringing experiences from Brazil, India and other major producers of the tuber.
The potential is enormous, that pioneer insisted, taking into account that cassava is in the DNA of Paraguayans and they cultivate it with their eyes closed. However, fuel alcohol production statistics show that the two largest companies (Petropar and Inpasa) produce it based on sugar cane, corn and sorghum.
For now, cassava alcohol must continue to inhabit the world of potentials. Oh, and one more addition in this line. It was always maintained that sugarcane production could yield between 100 and 120 tons per hectare. But since we did not exceed 50, there is a growth potential of almost 100%, which for now remains in the realm of hypotheses.
But there is more. Someone said, not long ago, that there is potential to grow cotton cultivation to up to a million hectares in the Chaco. This would be a collector’s item, since cotton moved in its time on real ground and not on theories. In 1990 the country reached a production peak covering 430,000 hectares and managing to export 231,677 tons of fiber worth US$333 million.
That was the climax of production in a peasant family format with a very limited profit margin. The system collapsed and more than 200,000 producers on mini-farms were left adrift. Today, the potential lies elsewhere, in mechanized production, direct seeding and transgenic cotton.
We had great potential to produce very good quality marble in Valle Mí. But he preferred to blow it up with dynamite to make cement. Now we talk about the great potential to generate wind and photovoltaic energy. Except for the individual experiences of many agricultural and livestock enterprises in the Chaco, this item does not go beyond the field of theory and experimental facilities.
In other words, the potential world.
