The Committee on Regional Economies and Development of the Chamber of Deputies debated INTA's 2027 budget cut and the elimination of the 0.45% tariff on imports, its main source of funding. APINTA warned of a 50% drop in resources between 2023 and 2027.
The Committee on Regional Economies and Development of the Chamber of Deputies opened a space to debate concerns over the budget cut planned for the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) for 2027, with particular focus on the elimination of a tariff on imports that constitutes its main source of funding. The informational hearing was chaired by Luis Basterra, former vice president of INTA and former minister of Agriculture.
Despite being an issue of interest to the sector, the most traditional producer associations were absent — the ones that hold the leadership of the organization through the Board of Directors: the Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA), with two representatives and its first delegate Carlos Vera elected as vice president, as well as CRA, Coninagro, Federación Agraria and CREA. None of their leaders requested time to speak at the session. The only association without a board member is Aapresid, which is nonetheless represented by Nicolás Bronzovich, president of the organization.
In the absence of those leaders, the opinions were voiced by other actors: Ricardo Garzia, of the Board of Presidents of the Regional and Research Center Councils; Sebastián Campo and Carlos Baravalle, of Bases Federadas; Aníbal Duarte, former president of the Advisory Council of the EEA AMBA; Gabriela Volpi Lagrieca, of APINTA; Carla Arizo, of ATE; and Carlos Paz, former vice president of INTA.
Garzia expressed his concern about the Budget Law and its implications for the present and future of the Institute. “We have read the intention in the new budget bill that there are ideas to strip INTA of what it has by law,” he said regarding the special levy that feeds the so-called INTA Fund. He assured that “after seeking advice, we understand that the budget law cannot modify the INTA law, the rate it has with respect to foreign trade for its funding and operation.” The former Federación Agraria leader stressed that INTA “has been undergoing a process of reduction for years. There are economic, social and environmental losses that Argentina incurs today as a result of the defunding and structural hollowing-out of its scientific system.”
Volpi Lagrieca, a researcher and APINTA representative, confirmed the concern over article 21 of the 2027 Budget bill, which proposes repealing subsection A of article 16 of decree-law 21,680, the specific source of INTA funding corresponding to 0.45% of imports. “For next year the funding source would be eliminated. And this is not just a budget reduction for a given fiscal year; we are talking about permanently eliminating a specific source of funding, and with it, reducing INTA's budget predictability,” she said.
The researcher specified that “the reduction of resources allocated to the organization between 2023 and 2027 is 50%, with a loss of salary purchasing power of close to 40%, and for 2027 the budget bill envisages an 18% reduction in INTA's budget.” She added that since 2023 “staff was cut by 27% and no personnel have been added for 3 years; 1,300 workers were let go. Fifty rural extension agencies were closed, along with the AMBA agricultural experimental station.”
