Eugenia Saini is currently FONTAGRO’s Executive Secretary. FONTAGRO is the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology. She leads the investment fund and a portfolio of 70 international operations related to science, technology, and innovation for the Latin America and the Caribbean region. She is from Argentina and is an agronomist by training. She holds a doctorate in agricultural sciences, specializing in total factor productivity analysis. One of her seminal works in this field was the estimation of 120 years of TFP for the agricultural sector in Argentina. She is also a National Public Accountant and holds an MS in Food and Agribusiness and an MS in Applied Economics, both from Universidad de Buenos Aires. She has worked in the private and public sectors, both nationally and internationally, especially in multilateral banks. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship at Cornell University and, more recently, with the Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy (AILA) Scholarship at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.
A Legacy of Conservation and Success
The possibility of creating a system to conserve U.S. agricultural land was being discussed even before the Dust Bowl devastated America’s agricultural heartland. As winds blew mountains of dust from the Great Plains to Washington, D.C., government officials understood that if U.S. agriculture was to survive, soil conservation needed to be a centerpiece of agricultural policy and practice.
In 1937, the Standard State Soil Conservation Districts Law authorized farmers to organize local soil and water conservation districts. These districts gave farmers a voice in federal programs and are widely acknowledged as a key reason for the success of private lands conservation.
Today, the U.S. conservation system reaches into virtually every rural community with technical and financial assistance that is targeted to local conditions and local needs. The 2014 Farm Bill strengthened the linkage between conservation compliance and crop insurance. To be eligible to receive many USDA benefits, including loans, disaster assistance, federal crop insurance premium subsidies and conservation assistance, farmers must comply with requirements for highly erodible lands and wetlands.
The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offers voluntary programs to eligible landowners and agricultural producers and provides financial and technical assistance to help manage natural resources in a sustainable manner.