0087/2021 - Risks and socio-sanitary impacts of fumigation with agrochemicals in Salta, Santiago del Estero and Santa Fe
Conflictividad socio-ambiental por uso de agroquímicos en Salta, Santiago del Estero y Santa Fe, Argentina
Publicado
Author:
• Mariana Schmidt - Schmidt, M. - <marianaandreaschmidt@gmail.com>ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4606-7692
Co-author(s):
• Virginia Toledo López - López, V. T. - <vtoledolopez@gmail.com>ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0901-8285
• Melina Tobías - Tobías, M. - <melina.tobias@gmail.com>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7929-5395
• Ezequiel Grinberg - Grinberg, E. - <ezequielgrin@yahoo.com.ar>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5920-1080
• Gabriela Merlinsky - Merlinsky, G. - <merlinsk@retina.ar>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9343-8658
Abstract:
Introduction: Since the end of the 20th century, the countries of the Southern Cone (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia) have undergone far-reaching productive and environmental transformationsas a result of the consolidation of agribusiness.The aim of the article is to contribute to the understanding and visibility con conflicts and controversies due to agrochemicals´ use in the provinces of Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero and Salta, Argentina.Methods: Secondary information sources have been relieved and systematized, in order to carry out a first contextual analysis of regulatory frameworks, public policies andemergence of social construction processes of environmental and health risks. Analysis focused on three main aspects: regulations, policies and institutions and territorial-sanitary.
Results: In the three provinces different legal frameworks regulate the use of agrochemicals, and state agencies exist to implement, enforce and monitor such regulations. However, and in line with other regional and international situations, the study compiled numerous —more or less salient and/or intense— conflict situations in which the environmental and sanitary impacts of agrochemicals are problematized. It also demonstrates the importance that the local scale assumes in the definition of rules and controls associated with fumigations.
Conclusions: Policies regarding the use of agrochemicals are split up into a myriad of regulations, enforcement agencies and levels of government; sanitary concerns play a minor role in this context. Setting aside sporadic advances in legislation and court rulings, there is no official recognition of the damage caused to the environment and human health, and the solution proposed by business spokesmen of ensuring so-called Agricultural Best Practice precludes a more thoroughgoing critique of the prevailing agricultural model.
