A big change is coming to bio-inputs: Jorge Escalante, Koppert Argentina

Present in Argentina for just three years since its acquisition of Nitrasoil, Koppert has established itself in the bio-input market and promotes the idea that ″a big change in production is coming″.

″The way of producing is changing. Gradually, old models are being eliminated. For example, it was previously believed that beneficial insects were only useful for intensive cultivation,″ said Jorge Escalante (Commercial Manager at Koppert Argentina).

In the recent edition of the Aapresid Congress, results were presented on the effects of pollinators on autogamous plants, such as soybeans, which achieved improvements to crops, he added.

″In addition, there is healthy pressure coming from the market and from new generations of producers for the urgent need to create more sustainable systems. I am convinced that the process of bioinputs being adopted by producers in the Argentine region of Pampa Húmeda is rapidly happening,″ he said.

According to Escalante, proof of the change is the fact that the vast majority of agronomists under 30 years old consider biological products as valid for extensive cultivation.

″We have been producing for decades as we learned in college, where we studied countless chemical synthesis molecules and how to combine them. That changed in both college and the field,″ he further added.

″But be careful, the idea is not that a radical change will happen, it is not possible to move from 100% chemical products to biological ones, but it is time to realize that bioinputs are valid tools that can be incorporated into the production process,″ Escalante explained.

BETTING ON ARGENTINA

″Koppert is celebrating 55 years of its launch in Holland and, since then, it has become a global leader in biological crop protection,″ Escalante said.

In its early days, the company worked with predatory insects and parasitoids and later incorporated a lineage of pollinators, which are insects that multiply in biofactories that are then distributed to fulfill the role of biological controllers.

They then incorporated a branch of microorganisms, a conidia of pathogenic fungi and even bacteria, which also act as biological fungicides.

″Among these innovations is a new branch of virus of high specificity and formulated in flasks, which are biological insecticides that will be launched to control caterpillars and lepidopterans,″ Escalante announced.

In 2011, Koppert teamed up Brazilian professionals already working in biological control and developed new products for extensive crops in the country.

″Koppert brought all this experience to Argentina three years ago with the acquisition of Nitrasoil, which was the first national agricultural company to sell peat-based inoculants for pastures over 50 years ago,″ Escalante affirmed.

Currently in Argentina, Koppert has the first bacteria biofactory for the production of products and imports that are formulations containing microorganisms.

The next step will be to work on ″controlling insects and pollinators for the vegetable market,″ he added.

For the grain campaign, Koppert launched a pack that includes an inoculant with the protector, Bradyrhizobium, an exclusive strain of Trichoderma harzanium, produced in Brazil as an improved formulation, which acts as a fungicide.

They also market Trichodermil SC 1306 as a biofungicide to protect soybeans from soil fungi, such as all forms of sclerotinia, fusarium, pythium and rhizoctonia.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)

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.