La Libertad is the main agricultural research center of the Colombian Orinoco region and one of the most important in the country. It is located 336 meters above sea level at coordinates 4.0574386,-73.4676386. The site has an average annual rainfall of 2,933 mm and an average temperature of 26 °C. The Center covers 1,332 hectares, including agro-ecological zones of humid alluvial valleys and acidic soils of low fertility and agricultural vocation, classified as oxisols. The landscape is made up of high, medium and low terraces, typical of the Piedemonte Llanero subregion.

La Libertad has outstanding human talent, agricultural and livestock infrastructure, land, laboratories, and a programmatic agenda with a multidisciplinary approach to research, technological development and innovation for prioritized production systems. In addition, the Center’s germplasm banks keep an important part of the country's biological capital, enabling conservation of the genetic variability of species such as cattle of the native breed Sanmartinero, important for their adaptability, resistance and hybrid vigor, among other characteristics; Casco de Mula swine, which are in danger of extinction; cashews, a species with high agroindustrial potential for the Eastern Plains of Colombia; and a large collection of tropical fruit species originating in Asia and the Americas.

In the research area, La Libertad develops projects focused on improving competitiveness and achieving sustainability in relevant production systems in the region, specifically dual-purpose and beef cattle ranching; and annual and perennial crops, including citrus, maize, rice, soybeans, cashews, forestry, rubber and African palm. The Center’s laboratories support the its research activities and also provides services to producers in the region, such as soil analyses, and nutrition and animal reproduction techniques. Support to research includes, in addition to the above, services in the areas of plant pathology, entomology, soil microbiology, animal physiology and quality of milk and meat.

La Libertad’s activities, including their work in the Yopal and Taluma sites, contribute to the development of livestock in the Colombian Orinoco region through research, education, training and extension services.

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Director

• Román Tibavija

• (+57) 60 1 9144677, Ext. 2800
• rtibavija@agrosavia.co

Agricultural Engineer from Universidad of the Llanos, with an M.Sc. in Environmental Economy from Universidad of the Andes. He has experience as the regional advisor for the project "Transforming Orinoquía with the Integration of the Benefits of Nature in Sustainable Agendas" (TONINA, for its acronym in Spanish); he is a regional advisor for the Department of Meta in the Sustainable Rural Economic Development Program; he is a specialist in Economic Development in Tetra Tech Ard Inc. He has worked as Coordinator of Productive Projects and Food Security in the Forestry Component of the USAID MIDAS Program, in the Forest Conservation Project in Corporación Nacional de Investigación y Fomento Forestal - Conif and in Encuesta Nacional Agropecuaria. Likewise, he has assumed roles as a technical advisor in Corporación Colombia Internacional-CCI, consultant of the Direction of Sustainable Territorial Development, and advisor at Dirección de Política Ambiental of Departamento Nacional de Planeación (DNP), among others.

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