LAUNCH OF SIGAMEX PLATFORM FOR MANAGEMENT OF EMPTY AGROCHEMICAL CONTAINERS
In order to support the management of agrochemical containers waste and combat piracy, APEAJAL, the Technological Institute of Cd. Guzmán (ITCG), the Jalisco Agri-Food Health, Safety and Quality Agency (ASICA) and AMOCALI met at the Camino Real Hotel in Guadalajara to make the official presentation of SIGAMEX, the Traceability System for empty phytosanitary containers in Mexico. The welcome was given by Mr. Matías Correch, president of AMOCALI, who highlighted that initiatives like the one presented at this meeting make big differences, MSc. Eduardo Ramírez Orona, General Director of the Jalisco Agri-Food Health, Safety and Quality Agency, stated that Jalisco is the main food producer in Mexico, so it is vitally important to rethink the issue of sustainability in the short, medium and long term.
MSc. Armando García Angulo, director and Eduardo Juarez Gomez, Traceability coordinator of APEAJAL represented the avocado industry, at the meeting the MSc. Armando García stressed that the platform will be the spearhead at the national level and that this depends both on the talent of the university students who participated in the project, and on the will of the organizations, benefiting the country; to farmers and society. Sergio Octavio Rosales Aguayo, director of the Ciudad Guzmán Technological Institute, as well as the nine students who collaborated in carrying out the project and Dr. Raquel Ochoa Ornelas, responsible for the project, attended the meeting.
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In 2022, APEAJAL, in coordination with the Technological Institute of Ciudad Guzmán, raised the needs of having a traceability platform in the state of Jalisco for the collection of pesticide containers, ASICA, ANEBERRIES and AMOCALI were integrated into the project.
SIGAMEX is a multi-platform traceability system for empty containers that can be accessed from the computer and mobile device, this is intended to ensure that Producers have access to updated information, in the app they can find the closest collection points as well as other nearby points; distributors, itinerant days and collection centers.
In addition, electronic receipts are generated that users can access at any time; a database and updated stocks in the CATs and in the new recovery points.
The project had the collaboration and support of several institutions Photo: Courtesy ITCG
The SIGAMEX system will allow the timely monitoring of empty agrochemical containers and thus traceability between agricultural producer and final destination, so that producers have a simple and friendly way to manage their empty agrochemical containers, and that by having collection points nearby, resources are optimized, in addition to having statistical information and producing less pollution. commented Eduardo Juarez, who managed the realization of the project.
It is currently expected that a pilot test will be launched in October 2023 in the north of the country (Chihuahua, Coahuila and Sonora) hoping to begin operations at the beginning of 2024.
Consult the AMOCALI programs at https://campolimpio.org.mx/ and ASICA at https://sader.jalisco.gob.mx/asica.
