Ismael Luna reports for El Dia:
Interview: Manuel Ávila Chytil expert in animal genetics
‘The government should help; not harass’
Manuel Ávila Chytil, Paraguayan, is an expert in animal genetics and director of Alta Genetics Inc., describing the success of both Paraguayan livestock meat production and exports, second within South America, describes what to do in Bolivia.
Q. How do we classify livestock in recent years?
MA: Livestock globally is growing. There is the perspective of a great demand for the next ten years. With the entry of China and India in the supply of meat and milk to the world market demand has stabilized, but that continues to increase as the population grows.
Q. What is the challenge for Latin America?
MA: There is a big challenge, as global demand is not only growing, but as demand requires. In this context, the South American countries are called to qualify their production processes and technology.
Q. And in the case of Bolivia?
MA: Both Bolivia, Paraguay and part of northern Argentina have still an underexploited capacity to produce. We are just 30% of our potential. Then, we have to work at it
P. Paraguay has grown, why is that?
MA: Paraguay has grown strongly in terms of production and exports, making it the sixth largest exporter of beef in the world, taking away the limelight from Uruguay, who was second in South America after Brazil. And the condition for this is to have the health status, control and appropriate technical conditions.
Q. What should Bolivia do?
MA: What to do Bolivia, is what was done in Paraguay: that the Government should help; but do not harass. Is that success, that depends on good animal husbandry, animal health and the technical support that all of that require. It is a long-term approach, irrespective of political and government changes.
Q. How materializes that?
MA: In livestock, any decision making process has a duration of three years, from birth, development and as far away as from commercialization. So we need to strengthen this process with quality and purely technical vision. This requires working on finding markets with quality products.
Q. The regulation is an obstacle?
M.A .: Absolutely. That killed meat production in Argentina. These quota systems in seven years decreased 7 million head of cattle. They restricted the export, prices were repressed, in the end the meat was more expensive for its own market. It was a shot in the foot.
Crystal clear!
Bolivian Thoughts 