Behind one of the mandates of the “father of the Green Revolution”

Roberto Peiretti is a member of the Global Farmer Network from Argentina and serves on the Network’s board of directors. Peiretti joined the board at a recent meeting held on the CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) campus near Mexico City, Mexico. In this article by La Nacion, Peiretti discusses the global character of the Network, and the inspiration provided from meeting at CIMMYT where the work of Dr. Norman Borlaug took place. Roberto explains how Borlaug’s “take it to the farmer” is a mandate behind the Network’s action-driven focus for the improvement of agricultural production to create more and better food.

In the above photo, Roberto Peiretti and Julie Borlaug stand in front of the Dr. Borlaug statue on CIMMYT’s campus.

Dr. Borlaug (1914-2009) is the father of the “Green Revolution”. He was awarded multiple honors for his work, including the Nobel Peace Prize.

Roberto A. Peiretti

Roberto Peiretti is a fourth-generation farmer, with the fifth generation also engaged in the family farm, located in central Argentina where they grow corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, oats, sorghum and sunflowers on eight thousand hectares. With 25% to 35% of the farm double-cropped each year, they are also able to regularly incorporate some pulses and oats as a cover crop annually. Trained as an agronomist, Roberto is a leader in No-Till agriculture systems, on their farm and as an advisor and engineer working nationally and internationally.

Roberto Peiretti volunteers as a board member for the Global Farmer Network and was a founding member of AAPRESID (Argentinian No Till Farmers Association) and CAAPAS (American Confederation of No Till Farmers Associations). Roberto was one of twenty-seven farmers that founded Bioceres, an agriculture-related biotechnology company. He is actively engaged in the World Association of Soils and Water Conservation (WASWAC) and was recognized as the WASWAC Distinguished Extensions Award in 2016.