The article “The Performativity of Bio-inputs in Argentina: Technological Disputes, Institutional Stabilization, and Regional Circulation” by Andrés Mondaini, a researcher at ECLAC’s Division of Productive and Business Development, offers an analysis of the process of construction, legitimation, and institutionalization of the concept of bio-inputs in Argentina and its subsequent regional projection.

The work is part of volume 31 of the Journal of Social Studies of Science and Technology (Redes 61) and is based on the idea that bio-inputs constitute a “contested sociotechnical arena.” In this sense, their meaning and use do not emerge neutrally, but are shaped through interactions between technological developments, institutional frameworks, and preexisting political dynamics.

Argentina as a case study

The study focuses on Argentina, as it was the first country in Latin America to explicitly incorporate the category of bio-inputs into public policy aimed at the agricultural sector. With its creation, bio-inputs were presented as enabling technologies associated with goals such as generating skilled employment, import substitution, and responding to growing social demands for greater environmental sustainability.

This process was supported by cooperation between public agencies, technical specialists, and strong political backing, which made it possible to reach consensus around the definition of bio-input in the country. However, in 2016, the first tensions began to appear regarding regulatory criteria, technical barriers, or the direction the technology was taking, and a sectoral alternative agenda began to take shape among producers and developers.

An example for the region

While these processes were taking place in Argentina, the model managed to project itself beyond borders, taking root in neighboring countries. Brazil incorporated the National Plan for Bio-inputs, and Uruguay, in 2023, declared the use of bio-inputs in agricultural activity to be of national interest and launched a specific national plan.

According to Mondaini, the rapid expansion in MERCOSUR countries is not an isolated phenomenon, but is part of a broader trajectory of adopting biological inputs in certain sectors, supported by long-standing research networks and scientific cooperation. In his view, this process is particularly relevant because it shows how “a category initially promoted at the national level can be projected as an emerging standard in regional governance spaces.”

Among its contributions, the article also opens new lines of research. “In the future, it will be important to analyze possible divergences within the MERCOSUR Bio-inputs Commission, as well as the recent incorporation of concepts such as biofactories in Brazil and the effects this may have,” the author notes.

Finally, the study reiterates the idea that technological categories are not mere technical descriptions, but sociotechnical assemblages that influence the direction of productive transitions. In this context, the expansion of bio-inputs in Southern Cone countries has not resolved underlying problems, and the definition of the concept continues to be the subject of controversy. This is reflected in the Argentine case, which shows how these processes can “generate spaces for innovation, but also new forms of institutional closure and sociotechnical dispute,” Mondaini concludes.

To learn more about the study, you can consult the following link.