Last Tuesday, February 15, Dr. Alejandro Costantini, project leader, took over as director of INTA Castelar's Soil Institute.
With the presence of the president of the Council of the Natural Resources Research Center (CIRN), Ernesto Giardina, the director of the Center, Pablo Mercuri, and the former director of the Soil Institute, Miguel Taboada, the commissioning of the service took place
Costantini is an Agricultural Engineer with orientation in Agricultural Production, graduated from the Faculty of Agronomy of the UBA in 1991. Master in Soil Science graduated from the Graduate School of the same Faculty in 1997 and Doctor of Science from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, graduated in 2003.
He has worked as a researcher at the INTA Soil Institute since 2007. He is an Associate Professor of the Chair of Edaphology at FAUBA and a teacher at the Graduate School of that house of studies, where he teaches courses, directs theses and acts as a jury of works. endings. In that Faculty he has also served as Secretary of Extension and Student Affairs during the period 2001-2006.
He is the author of 25 peer-reviewed journal articles, two books, numerous book chapters, and conference presentations. He participated and continues to do so in national and international research projects, both as a participant and as Director. He currently coordinates the Project Use of Legumes in Livestock Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean, financed by Fontagro, Procisur and the Government of New Zealand. He is a representative for INTA in various conventions.
Its main management proposals for the Soil Institute are based on "an enhancement of its areas, providing them with greater functionality". In turn, Costantini highlighted as an axis "the training of human resources that allow improving the Institute's qualification and being more efficient when competing for national or international research projects".
Costantini also proposed "generating a rapprochement with the other CIRN units, mainly those with greater thematic affinity, as well as with other dependencies of the Institution, and deepening ties with science and technology institutions in Argentina and abroad." Likewise, he underlined as fundamental "strengthening the link with producers, extension workers and other actors in the sector". For this, he considers key to implement improvements in the laboratory and in tools to assist research, as well as for community service.
Finally, it will continue and deepen the policy of making soil mapping available through the different platforms of the Institution, as well as the applications that it intends to develop.
The director of the CIRN, Pablo Mercuri, affirmed for his part that "the regularization of the staff of directors of the institutes through open competitions is essential to ensure the operations and lines of strategic work." In this sense, "many issues related to soils are now prioritized at the international level and in the productive territories of the country." Following Mercuri, “soils are today a key resource to ensure sustainable development. It is significant to take advantage of this opportunity with all the institutional instruments and for the Institute to be a prominent player”.
