Bioinputs market increases by 15% to 17% in Argentina

The Argentine bioinput market has increased by 15% to 17%, the Chamber of Agricultural and Fertilizer Health (Casafe) informed AgroPages exclusively.

According to the entity, this segment incorporated biological products such as biofertilizers, biostimulants, or biocontrollers made from naturally occurring agents, such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, mites, or plant extracts.

Federico Elorza, coordinator of sustainable management at Casafe, commented, "it is a market that mobilizes almost US$100 million per year."

"While it is below agrochemicals and fertilizers, it is increasing by 15% to 17% in Argentina," he said.

The main business, the leader highlighted, is inoculants, accounting for 62% of the market, followed by biostimulants (14%), bioinsecticides (11%), biofungicides (5.1%), and biofertilizers (4.8%).

According to Casafe, bioinputs improved crop productivity and were increasingly used in the interior of Argentina.

The Chamber stated that it represented 80% of the companies in the bioinput market and saw "a great opportunity" in this segment.

The entity rejected the reductionist view that technologies were opposed or that one solution replaced another.

Elorza summarized it as follows: "We do not see that there will be a substitution of chemical products for biological ones because, in many cases, there are still no biological products that can do the same thing as some chemical products, but what we see is that the use of biological products will increase, and producers will turn to these technologies."

According to him, the current challenge is to find, with the known microorganisms, new opportunities in their mechanisms of action depending on the region and the need or not to complete them with products of chemical synthesis.

The leader emphasized that the growth of organic production drove the use of biologicals since chemical synthesis products cannot be used in this approach and confirmed the efficiency of bio-inputs in the field.

"They are as efficient as chemical products, and in some cases, they can even be more efficient," he expressed.

"With the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices, we use products responsibly to avoid causing health issues, harming the environment, and generating resistances that could make us lose the technology," Elorza said in conclusion.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)

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