Nitrogen fixation on a national scale

Intensive grazing of vast areas combined with continuous cultivation of wheat, barley, maize, sorghum and sunflower under conventional tillage practices, without proper fertilisation or erosion control, have been degrading land in Uruguay ever since the first European emigrants arrived in the country in 1910.

Farmers and producers abandoned the land once it became infertile and degraded and moved on to areas where soils were still productive. As a result the problem of soil depletion grew. In 1959 the government, technicians, NGOs and farmers unions started to discuss the problem. A plan for the development of agriculture was developed. This “Agricultural Development Plan” was set up to improve productivity in the short and long terms and included all agricultural land. Special emphasis was given to the development of pasture-crop rotations.