LETTER

 

Report of the 5th International Congress of Tropical Animal Production 2015

 

Relatoría del V Congreso Producción Animal Tropical 2015

 

 

Good afternoon dear members of the presidency, delegates and visitors:

After four days of hard scientific work, we are gathered in plenary session for revealing the report of the 5th International Congress of Tropical Animal Production 2015. This event had an attendance of 465 participants from prestigious national and international scientific and teaching institutions, organizations, enterprises, associations, and national and international primary producers.

We were honored with the presence of 173 colleagues from 20 countries (Argentine, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Germany, France, Guatemala, Honduras,  Netherlands, Nicaragua, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom,  United States, and Uruguay), as well as 293 delegates from Cuba. There was also the presence of representatives of FAO to Cuba and Panama, Romanian Ambassador in Cuba, a delegation from the Ministry of Education of Romania, the President of the International Society for Animal Hygiene and the Rector of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, Mexico.

There were 595 studies presented through lectures, round-table discussions, panels, oral and poster presentations, which gave room for 400 interventions of participants. In addition, a book recalling the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Animal Science was presented, as well as other five electronic books related to the use of sugar cane, Pennisetum purpureum, additives with probiotic and prebiotic activity on animal feeding, fertility of soils on animal husbandry and alternative systems for rabbit feeding.

The different presented and discussed topics indicate the need of encouraging, emphasizing and achieving superior results in:

• Strengthening of national systems of research, innovation and technology transfer, as well as promoting the formation of multidisciplinary groups for enriching with specialists of the social and economic areas in order to reach the expected impact regarding the public policies and social and economic development, which should be sustainable and kind with the environment.

• The need of performing researches that allows to help animal husbandry field to adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects; inversions in research and extension services and innovation needs.

• Adoption of new technologies in which the strategic alliances are important.

• Development of multipurpose cattle rearing systems allowing to provide human food, animal feed and energy with a positive environmental impact.

• It was evident that there are opportunities for proper soil management that allow their recovery and conservation like minimal soil tillage, strategic fertilization, bio-diversified systems and some others.

• Feeding, management, reproduction and production of milk, meat and eggs, vulnerability of these systems and development of national and regional requirement tables.

• Continue promoting sustainable systems of aquiculture

• Favor the development of scaling technological infrastructures for the production of additives and feeds that improve production and animal health.

• Continue the progress in the conservation and improvement of zoo-genetic resources.

• Use of tubers, autochthonous resources, agro-industrial by-products and biotechnological procedures for animal feed production.

• Encourage the obtaining of production technologies and use of protein plants like moringa, mulberry and tithonia for animal production.

• Evaluation and introduction of promising legumes and grasses varieties and species for different ecosystems and productive purposes.

• Establish the indicators that allow to characterize and monitor agricultural and livestock production systems.

• Use of homeopathic and natural products for animal health

• Prioritize the inclusion of animal welfare on the teaching of veterinary medicine and on postgraduate programs

• The role of observatories, data mining, and expert systems for perfecting productive, social, economic and environmental studies.

• Regional collaboration and integration and information exchange

• Need of developing and introducing advanced mathematic methods and the creation of informatics programs that facilitate the work of technicians and professionals, as well as the training of their users.

• Need of having proper strategies and policies that allow the fast introduction of technologies into social practice, considering their financing.

• Creating the bases for promoting technical and scientific materials and those dedicated to primary producers.

• It was important the demonstration of results reached by primary producers in the process of adoption and transference of technologies. Once more, it was demonstrated the need of relating science to social practice. Therefore, a higher representation of farmers in this type of events has to be achieved.

• It was evident that cooperation and commercialization of science products should not be a property of commercial enterprises. On the contrary, they should belong to the patrimony of humanity and respond to its local and regional interests.

The Federación de Ovejeros y Cabreros de América Latina (FOCAL) registered new members in the “Hall of Fame”, who have dedicated their whole life to ovine and caprine development in Latin America.

The Meeting of Editors was attended by representatives from 20 journals from Colombia, Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, Chile and Cuba. The main presentations focused on the work of the reviewers, editorial ethics, database positioning, the value of the publication quality, the need to continue building capacities for a proper writing of scientific papers and presentation of results. Participants agreed on the criteria that local initiatives were needed to make visible and promote the progress of science based on quality, innovation, scientific rigor and relevance for the regional development of different areas of knowledge.

One of the agreements was to hold, in 2017, on a regional basis and recovering its own identity, the 11th Meeting of Editors of Scientific and Informative Journals. Therefore, a proposition was to create an international organizing committee, formed and supported by representatives from different countries present at this meeting.

During the exchange, interests on the development of joint research were identified, as well as professional and postgraduate training in Cuba for Mexican universities such as the Politécnica Francisco y Madero Hidalgo, la Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Universidad de Zacatecas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, and some others like SENA from Colombia and Universidad San Carlos de Guatemala.

Agreements and intended letters were signed between the Instituto  de  Ciencia  Animal and institutions like Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro from Mexico, CIPAV and CORPOICA from Colombia.

Plans for 2016 were prepared with Mexican organizations and institutions like CINVESTAV, Secretary of Rural Development Campeche, the Regional Livestock Union Center Veracruz, the National Coordination of the Produce Foundations Chiapas, Tabasco and Veracruz, as well as with the Universidad   de la República, Uruguay, the Universidad Tecnológica de Cotopaxi, Ecuador, CIAT and the Foundation for rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean, from Colombia.

The associated exhibition was represented by stands in which scientific institutions, teachers and commercial firms showed their main products and services, including CATEC-LABIOFAM, CENSA, ICA, UNAH, INCA, EEPF Indio Hatuey, ACPA, CENPALAB, IIPF, CIMA-GT, Grupo Empresarial  LABIOFAM and CIBA from Ciego de Ávila. The foreign representation included Celtic Holland from Mexico and ISF from Italy. Several work meetings were held to identify cooperation opportunities, contributing to strengthen partnerships between national institutions.

There was the sponsoring of organizations like the Berotz Group from Basque Country, the MTG-Export-Import company from Chile and the Fundación para el Desarrollo Rural de Latinoamérica y el Caribe from Colombia.

The organizing committee would like to acknowledge the opportunities and hospitality extended by the Palacio de Convenciones for the successful development of this event.

Like any human endeavor, we were not exempt from some difficulties that, fortunately, were solved in the course of time. We offer our apologies and hope for your understanding.

This congress confirmed, once again, the need to continue with a space for dialogue among researchers, teachers, farmers and students of national and international agricultural sector that allows the creation of partnerships, networks and exchanges, required to continue contributing to the noble purpose of producing healthy and innocuous food of animal origin, and to nutritional and food security of our population.

We would like to thank you again for your presence. We hope that your stay had been productive and we wish you a happy return to your homes.

We do not say farewell, we will see each other at the next congress in October, 2018!!

Thank you very much.