Rizobacter is set to conquer the global soybean inoculant market

Rizobacter managed to capture 23 per cent of the market and is now focused on the mission of deepening biological fertilization in more than 40 countries. The company is already among the five largest companies producing biological inputs in the world.

Rizobacter soy inoculants occupy 23 per cent of the global market share. Its production plant was born 44 years ago and from where it deployed its international expansion strategy, based mainly on establishing strong links with technical-scientific institutions, companies, and producers from other countries. The company assures that this allowed them to come up with specific technologies, developed under strict international quality standards, which respond to the productive needs of very dissimilar environments throughout America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. This positioning today places it among the five most important companies producing biological inputs at a global level.

Biological fixation can naturally provide up to 70 per cent of the nitrogen that the soybean plant needs during its development. The contribution of this biological process to the nutrition of the legume crop is maximized through the practice of inoculation. As a consequence, the need for chemical fertilization is reduced, which represents a high economic cost for the producer and for the environment, with the consumption of fossil fuels, a high emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and an impact on the balance of ecosystems.

Among the countries with the highest adoption of this practice are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and, going to other latitudes, are Ukraine, France, Turkey, South Africa, and Canada. Due to the advantages that inoculants bring to the sustainable production of soybean cultivation, Rizobacter foresees a promising future regarding the adoption of this practice, which is still low in some countries.

Growth with a solid base

The demand for biological inputs has been growing; according to the latest record it reached an annual increase of 14 per cent. This pronounced shift from agricultural production towards technologies that bring sustainability to the system, finds Rizobacter well over its four decades invested in research of biologics formulation technologies (30 per cent of the profits go to R&D programs). This trajectory is mainly reflected in the formulations that add value to the traditional inoculants. The company has achieved developments linked to bacterial survival that today offer the possibility of performing seed treatments up to 220 days before planting. Also, with Osmo Protection Technology, it managed to strengthen bacteria and promote their highest metabolic performance. Among the latest advances is the inclusion of bio-inductors capable of generating molecular signals to accelerate communication between bacteria and plants; and bacteria that better tolerate water stress.

Matías Gorski, global manager of Biological Products of the company explains on which growth expectations are based. “These products are friendly to the environment, prevent soil degradation, are cheaper and safer for the producer, improve the quality and yields of crops, and integrally favor regenerative agriculture. At the same time, these advantages are combined with the greater demand for food, the greater regulatory demands of the countries that promote a reduction in the use of chemicals, and the demands of the consumer himself.”

There are many challenges and opportunities

In 2021, Rizobacter landed in Australia and Mexico, which join other recent countries such as Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Malawi, Ghana, and Chile. In South Africa, for example, it already covers 60 per cent of the soy inoculants market.

Currently, its international presence amounts to more than 40 countries where it seeks to expand its palette of biological products made up of biofungicides, bioinsecticides, biostimulants, and inoculants for various crops.