AGROSAVIA inaugurates new headquarters in Santander

• The launching of this new space located in Parque Tecnológico Guatiguará [Guatiguará Technology Park] was carried out within the delivery of results framework of a project financed with resources from the General Royalties System (SGR, for its acronym in Spanish) of the department.

 

Piedecuesta, Santander. February 28, 2024. The project entitled “Strengthening the science, technology, and innovation capacities of the La Suiza Research Center for the development of phytosanitary and agroindustry projects in prioritized production systems in Santander” aimed to resolve cocoa and avocado producers’ demands located in Rionegro – Santander, reaching nearly 240 direct and indirect beneficiaries. The delivery of results was carried out during two stages:

• The first, with the participation of cocoa and avocado agricultural producers, was held at the La Suiza Research Center facilities and included the presentation and demonstration of research tools available for these production systems.
• On the second day, the official presentation of AGROSAVIA’s headquarters, number 24, in Parque Tecnológico Guatiguará was carried out, as well as the current capacities in the field of science, technology, and innovation. This activity included the participation of different associative entities from the regional agricultural sector and the accompaniment of the Government of Santander.

For Jorge Mario Díaz Luengas, Executive Director of AGROSAVIA, this is the entities’ effort to achieve greater coverage in all territories by taking advantage of SGR resources to strengthen diagnostic capacities, particularly for phytosanitary problems, as well as alliances with entities such as Universidad Industrial de Santander, “increasing the generation of scientific and technological knowledge to face the main challenges diseases pose on crops in this important region of the country.”

During the inauguration of AGROSAVIA’s facilities in Parque Tecnológico Guatiguará, the signing of the framework cooperation agreement between AGROSAVIA and Universidad Industrial de Santander was carried out to strengthen this alliance through inter-institutional efforts. During the day, there was also a space for socializing scientific posters that documented the research carried out by the La Suiza Research Center during the execution of the project.

For Diego Alejandro Zárate Caicedo, Director of the La Suiza Research Center, through coordinated effort of more than two years, work has been carried out in an articulated manner from the search for interaction between entities in the CTeI sector to guarantee that AGROSAVIA has a transversal role in the department.

According to Claudia Holguín, Associate Ph.D. Researcher of AGROSAVIA, with the project executed, equipment for agroindustry, molecular genetics, entomology, and agricultural microbiology was acquired, which “favors the region greatly since we can count on cutting-edge technology to address phytosanitary problems.”