Bilateral meeting with the Minister for Productive Agriculture and Land of Venezuela - H.E. Wilmar Castro Soteldo

Rome – FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and His Excellency Wilmar Castro Soteldo, Minister for Productive Agriculture and Land of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, met today on the sidelines of the 43rd Session of the FAO Conference.

The minister congratulated the Director-General on his leadership and re-election for a second term at the helm of FAO. He highlighted that Venezuela is focused on transforming its agrifood systems, promoting agriculture with no chemicals and using natural resources in a sustainable way, mainly soil and water. For this, he highlighted the importance of exchanging knowledge and expertise with other countries. The Minister also mentioned that each nation has its own food culture and that consumption patterns should not be globalized.

The Director-General thanked Venezuela for its support and highlighted that the country has potential to produce more and better with adequate training, technologies and new seed varieties. He cited sweet potato and maize as crops that could be improved to promote variability.