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Plasticulture in Uruguay : agricultural development with the contribution of agriplastics
AUTHOR : F. Castellón PETROVICH, Materials Engineer – Polymer Option, Simón Bolívar University, Caracas, Venezuela. DEA in Agriplasticulture, University of Almeria, Spain. President of CIDAPA and COVEPLA Foundation.
Uruguay, like all the other countries using agricultural plastics in the world, has to face the challenge of managing their end of life… Collection, recycling, biodegradability are all issues that require practical and viable answers to meet the country’s food, economic and environmental needs.
The Eastern Republic of Uruguay is located in the eastern part of the so-called Southern Cone, at the tip of South America. It has a total area of 176,215 km2 and an estimated population of 3,473,730 (Worldometer, 2021).
Uruguay’s relief is characterised by its low altitude, divided into two main zones: the peneplains and the plains, with an average altitude of 140 m above sea level. However, these are not typical plains, due to the almost constant presence of small mountain ranges, which is why they are called penillanura. The water supply comes from the Uruguay River, the longest in the country, which borders the Republic of Argentina and is of great economic importance, since the plains surrounding it are of great fertility, as well as from the watersheds of the Negro River and the Merín Lagoon, and other rivers that flow directly into the Río de La Plata.
Uruguay is an exporter of agricultural products, the main product of which is cereal, led by soya, with more than 900 thousand hectares, followed by wheat, barley, maize and rice (Anuario MGAP, 2021). Other products are citrus, fruit trees and grapes for wine production (IEC Uruguay, 2021). Vegetables occupy over 9,000 ha with 2,430 producers (Anuario MGAP, 2021). The forestry sector represents 1.292 million hectares, in forests of different varieties, mainly eucalyptus and pine. It also has an important area of forests with native species (Anuario MGAP, 2021).
Cattle and sheep production contribute significantly to the country’s economy, with a ratio of almost four cattle/person and two sheep/person. Uruguay exports more than 370,000 t of meat per year to over 100 countries. The main meat markets are: China and the European Union (EU) and recently Eastern Europe and Algeria (IEC Uruguay, 2021). The cattle population reached 11.882 million (MM) heads in 2020 and the sheep population 6.337 MM heads (Anuario MGAP, 2021). The export of dairy products and their derivatives is important, with cheese (55,731 t) and milk powder (168,401 t) [Anuario MGAP, 2021].
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