Researcher develops 100% Brazilian sustainable biofertilizer

For ten years, Brenno Amaro, professor at the Institute of Chemistry (IQ) at the University of Brasília (UnB), has been dedicated to researching nanometric materials. Among his outstanding projects is one focused on the production of arbolin, a nanoparticle with a biostimulant and biofertilizer effect that increases crop productivity. The technology was developed at UnB laboratories and approved by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa).

The professor is one of the founders of Krilltech, a company specializing in nanotechnology in the agribusiness sector (AgTech), which is betting on arbolina as the biofertilizer of the future. The 100% Brazilian product is pure, non-toxic, non-bioaccumulating and luminescent, capable of increasing production by up to 40% and enriching the nutritional quality of food.

″The biofertilizer is composed of organic carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen. It is basically what a plant needs. It is 'bio' because it is non-toxic, made from materials produced by nature. And it is also sustainable, therefore, it does not generate solid or liquid waste during production,″ said Amaro in an interview with the Planet Connection.

In 2021, he was chosen to receive the Fernando Galembeck Innovation Award from the Brazilian Society of Chemistry. The award honors competence and innovative capacity and recognizes the work of researchers in national science and technology.

″This is yet another great opportunity to show society the importance of stimulating and investing in research and innovation, which, overwhelmingly in Brazil, are carried out at public universities,″ said Marcos Juliano Prauchner, Director of the Institute of Chemistry at UnB, about the faculty award.

Amaro already specialized in fluorescent materials and bioimaging when he started his scientific production  at UnB. In 2011, with the arrival of Professor Marcelo Rodrigues at the IQ, who began producing carbon nanomaterials, the two professors combined their qualifications and began researching nanometric materials. Brenno's expertise allowed surface modifications to be made on the carbon materials that Marcelo produced.

In the beginning, they used cow dung as a source of carbon, which was transformed into nanometric particles. In Brenno's assessment, they had a very high technological value. In 2015, Embrapa researchers saw that the properties of these particles could cause positive responses in some plant cultures. It was the start of the partnership between UnB and Embrapa, which resulted in the patent and licensing for the arbolina biofertilizer.

The 4th Biopesticides, Biostimulants and Novel Fertilizers International Summit (BioEx 2023) will take place on 9th & 10th March in Hangzhou, China. We are pleased to invite speakers from the commercial, research, extension, government, regulatory and farming sectors to submit your proposals and abstracts for oral presentations.