ARGENTINA/FILE: New social network called Sojabook - or Soybook - looks to connect farmers and others with agricultural interests in a unique site similar to Facebook

Record ID: 446737

  • Title: ARGENTINA/FILE: New social network called Sojabook - or Soybook - looks to connect farmers and others with agricultural interests in a unique site similar to Facebook
  • Date: 16th November 2011
  • Summary: ENTRE RIOS PROVINCE, ARGENTINA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SOY HARVEST
  • Embargoed: 1st December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Business,Communications,Industry,Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA7ZTXFHN93EK9OBOBNUDD2NH4Q
  • Story Text: Soy farmers in Argentina are getting social with the launch of a new social network called "Soybook" (Sojabook in Spanish)- designed to become a platform for growers to swap tips, techniques and general concerns over the internet.
    The new website - the brainchild of Mariano Torrubiano - was launched in October. He hopes it will become the social network of choice for farmers and others involved in the soy industry.
    "The main purpose of Soybook is to connect farmers who have common needs, whether they be commercial or not. Soybook is also a place to get together where a lot of farmers come to investigate different things or doubts they have at different times," Torrubiano said.
    Similar to other social networks like Facebook and Myspace, users can upload photos and videos and post on 'friends' walls, but they also have the option to start and answer forums related to agricultural industries.
    One of the most active forums on the page as of Monday (November 14) was on new wheat regulations in Argentina.
    Since launching, Soybook has accumulated more than 250 unique users mostly from Torrubiano's native Argentina, but the creator of the page says he hopes to see that quickly expand throughout the region and across borders.
    "The first goal is to get 1,000 users and we have a second goal, which is to get 10,000 users, and we hope it happens soon," Torrubiano said.
    Argentina is a global top soymeal and soyoil exporter and the world's number three soybean supplier.
    Argentina is also the world's number two corn supplier and a leading global meat supplier and the page is open to all types of farmers or people interested in the related fields.
    "I have in an image stuck in my head of a farmer working on his tractor and on one side he has his netbook and on the other his iPod and while he is sowing he is connected to a social network and with music that he's downloaded from the Internet and at the same time he is working. This image gave me the idea that farmers needed a social network of their own, and this is how Soybook was born," Torrubiano added.
    But not all users are working the fields or operate in food production at all. In the short time the page has been running it has already reached out to the promising bio-fuel industry.
    "I am not a farmer, but I am a bio-fuel investigator, so my main interest is to use the page to get closer to the farmers and information related to bio-fuels," said Soybook user and environmental and agricultural systems engineer, Luis Panichelli.
    Argentina uses its ample supplies of soybean oil to fuel its growing biodiesel industry which some analysts say will nearly triple by 2015.
    Panichelli told Reuters Soybook had already proven a useful tool for gaining first hand information from producers.
    "With it I am able to contact other users because in investigation you always need data from the country. You have to do surveys, you have to evaluate information which sometimes is hard to get. So, I think it is good to be able to have this first contact where people can exchange information," Panichelli added.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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