At an event held at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the National University of Rosario (UNR), three agricultural engineers presented a technical and political analysis on soil erosion and degradation in the Pampas region, with a focus on Santa Fe.
Organized around the axis of “past, present, and future,” the presentation warned that almost half of the territory of Santa Fe shows visible erosive processes, and alerted about a future without sustenance if current practices are not reversed.
The diagnosis was as profound as it was urgent: an extractivist agricultural model, scarce land systematization, increasing climatic pressure, and a deficit of regional planning irreversibly deteriorate the soil structure and fertility of the soil.
They warn that erosion not only affects agricultural production, but also jeopardizes the freshwater supply, biodiversity, and rural infrastructure.
A foretold crisis: from soil maps to hanging sewers
Engineer Fernando Martínez reviewed the history of soil conservation in Argentina since the National Soil Conservation Day was decreed in 1963. “We have not progressed as much as we should. It was a cruel failure,” he stated.
Water erosion from intense rains, sediment runoff from poorly designed ditches, and the lack of terraces (only 4.5% of the sloped area is systematized) are manifestations of this crisis.
In concrete data: in a century, southern Santa Fe lost almost 60% of its organic matter and 77% of available phosphorus, while agriculture replaces only 20% of the nutrients it extracts.
“Where is the Pampas soil going? It is filling up the Delta of Buenos Aires,” he illustrated, referring to the sediments visible from satellite images.
“It’s not even profitable to degrade the soil”
Professor Sergio Montico delved into the territorial impact of the current production model. Planning by lots, he said, ignores watershed dynamics and intensifies chaotic drainage towards rural roads. This leads to inaccessible gates, floating sewers, and the loss of up to a centimeter of fertile soil per year.
“42% of the 13 million hectares of Santa Fe show active erosive processes,” he detailed. This is compounded by changes in rainfall distribution linked to climate change: “Today, the same amount of water falls, but in less time and with compacted soils, aggravating the damage.”
Montico emphasized that the cost of preventing erosion is lower than repairing its consequences, and regretted that only 20% of producers conduct diagnostic studies of their fields. “It’s like not going to the doctor,” he compared.
Public policy, agronomic ethics, and soil sovereignty
The presentation concluded with the speech of Mario Monti, who addressed the future scenario in a context of geopolitical conflicts, pressure for increased food production, and defunding of scientific knowledge.
Monti stressed that the solution is not in the market, but in knowledge and strategic state intervention. He recalled that the Provincial Soil Commission was created by decree in 1986 and was only formally convened in 2025. He also appealed to the National Constitution (art. 124) and the Santa Fe Constitution (art. 28) to argue that the rational use of natural resources is a sovereign duty.
“The future does not only rely on drones or AI. They are tools. The key is human consciousness and an agronomy that has not yielded results so far,” he stated.
And he concluded with a definition that encapsulated the spirit of the meeting: “Working against soil degradation is an ethical imperative and a collective construction of conscious decisions”.
