The Argentine Agricultural Federation (FAA) has reacted to the government's claim that the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) holds idle lands, asserting that there are no unused fields and that the sale or dismantling of the institute would pose a risk to the country's agricultural development.
"It is not about unproductive fields, but about lands that serve a strategic function for the entire agricultural system," said Andrea Sarnari, president of the FAA.
The FAA has conducted its own audit nationwide, and according to the president, the survey in the central region found no unproductive hectares. Work continues in the Northeast and Northwest, but existing data already contradict the official claim that 42% of the INTA’s 100,000 hectares are idle.
The INTA has been key to developing direct seeding systems, sustainable soil management, plant and animal genetic improvement, agricultural health, and livestock breeding efficiency, and its genetic improvement and animal nutrition programs have increased productivity per hectare in marginal regions.
The controversy reflects the tension between Milei's government adjustment strategy and the agricultural sector's view that INTA is the driver of agricultural competitiveness. The debate over the eventual sale of lands and restructuring of the institute remains open, and the national survey is expected to set future decisions.
