The Ambassador of Italy to El Salvador, Paolo Emanuele Rozo Sordini, the Vice President of the Republic of El Salvador, Félix Ulloa, and the Presidential Designate of Honduras, Doris Gutiérrez, officially inaugurated a modern soil and water analysis laboratory at the INNOVATEC-SISTAGRO Agricultural Research Center in Metapán, El Salvador. The laboratory will provide specialized physical-chemical analysis services for soil and water, generating essential data to support good agricultural practices and enhance the technical capacities of approximately 1,950 farmers in the Trifinio region, a tri-border area shared by El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
The opening of the lab is one of the key achievements of the “Trifinio IN” project, funded by the Italian Government through the Italian Embassy in San Salvador and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), with a budget of €950,000. The project is implemented by the International Organization Italo-Latin American Institute (IILA) in coordination with Plan Trifinio, a regional body that promotes environmental and territorial management to improve living conditions in border communities.
Equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, the laboratory will enable farmers to obtain precise data on the chemical and physical fertility of their soil. These tools will help optimize fertilizer use, prevent soil degradation, and promote sustainable farming practices for more profitable and environmentally friendly production.
Following remarks by the authorities, participants toured the lab, where technicians demonstrated the new equipment, including refractometers, calcimeters, ovens, and distillers. This was followed by a visit to the SISTAGRO facility, which has been equipped—thanks to the project—with the latest Italian technology, such as motor cultivators, precision seeders, and a weather station.
Also as part of the Trifinio IN project, there was a symbolic handover of 85,000 tomato and bell pepper seedlings to farmers, to be cultivated using the good practices learned during training sessions. The event concluded with a fair, where farmers and local entrepreneurs showcased and sold their products.
