Mary Fitzgerald from Claremorris was among a group of Irish women in agriculture who headed to Argentina for a two-week study tour on October 7. This exciting trip to Argentina, followed by some tourist time in Brazil, was part of the successful Irish Women in Agriculture tours organised by Mary Carroll and Mary Flynn.
According to the Claremorris woman: “The trip was really educational and also good fun. Argentina has many connections historically and agriculturally with Ireland, and many Irish farmers have bought land there. On this trip we had an opportunity to see the region for ourselves. Another great part of the trip was the chance to meet with the other Irish women in agriculture who also travelled with us.”
With a population of 40 million people, Argentinean agriculture is capable of feeding 300 million people. Farmers’ unions claim that they are being blocked by gruelling taxes, especially the current 35 per cent export tax, along with income tax, local tax, and a production based land tax, all designed to keep cheap food available for the domestic market.
This was among some of the issues the Irish women in agriculture group discussed during a meeting with the Sociedad Rural Argentina, which is the Argentinean equivalent of the IFA. Meeting with the president and the vice president of the SRA, Dr Hugo Luis Biolcati and Alexander Delfino, the group heard how the four largest farm lobbies in Argentina have come together to fight the Government, seeking a reduction in export duties and more aid to farmers hit by extended droughts and falling commodity prices.
