Argentina: 74% of Casafe member companies invest in biologicals

By Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages

The Argentinian Chamber of Agricultural Health and Fertilizers (Casafe) recently relaunched a commission on biological products that brings together the main companies to discuss issues about the sector. 

Some 74% of its member companies invest in biological solutions that include organic agriculture in addition to the traditional one.

Like all phytosanitary products, the development of a bio-input takes 5 to 10 years, depending on the type of product. During this period, tests are carried out to guarantee environmental and toxicological safety (short, medium and long term) and its agronomic efficacy, including pathogenicity studies. Thereafter, the studies are presented to the regulatory body, in this case Senasa (National Service of Health and Food Quality), which approves the registration of the product for its subsequent commercialization and use.

In Argentina, biological products are used for both intensive and extensive agriculture with great efficacy. Currently, in Argentina, the market share of phytosanitary products that biologicals have is not very significant, varying the participation between crops and production systems. However, the market projection for the coming years is extremely positive, with annual growth rate of 14% globally, according to the agency Markets & Markets.

Casafe's Biological Commission is made up of the companies Barenbrug, Biotrop, Laboratorios C.K.C. Argentina, Nitrasoil Argentina S.A, NOVA S.A., Novozymes S.A., Stoller Argentina S.A. and Verdesian Life Sciences South America S.R.L., recently integrated into the chamber that joined the companies with biological products and partners such as Basf, Bayer, FMC, Rizobacter, SpeedAgro, Sumitomo, Summit Agro, Syngenta and UPL.

“In line with its commitment to sustainable agriculture, Casafe believes that all production systems are complementary. Biological products or agricultural bio-inputs are compounds of biological or natural origin, such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, mites or plant extracts, which serve to improve agro-industrial productivity,” the Chamber said.