PANAMA CITY - The use of nuclear energy in Latin America will benefit the agriculture production and medicine, director for Latin America at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Juan Antonio Casas said on Monday.

"With the irradiation of seeds, some countries have created new varieties of eatable plants, seeds that have higher productivity, resistant to plagues and with a better performance in the harvests," Casas said, speaking during the 12th meeting of the IAEA held in Panama City from May 23 to 27.

He said that among the seeds with positive results are those of wheat, rice, corn, banana and other products of massive consumption in the region.

"In the field of medicine radiotherapy, it has been developed to treat diagnosis cases and cancer," he said.

Casas said that countries with more advances in these technologies are Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, which are leading this applications and cooperation with the rest of the nations in the region.

He added that during the last 27 years, the IAEA has developed 72 projects of development with investment for more than $133 million.