Terragro introduces Soil Guard inoculant at Agritechnica 2023

Hungarian company Terragro, through its bio-inputs subsidiary Biofil, unveiled the Soil Guard inoculant during Agritechnica 2023, with special coverage by AgroPages. This is a special product formulated with the well-known bacterium Bacillus subtilis, which primarily targets soil-borne pathogenic fungi.

"This strain has a very effective impact on controlling pathogens such as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Alternaria solani, among other soil pathogens," said Csaba Ország, Sales and Marketing Director at Terragro, to AgroPages. According to them, when applied, the Soil Guard inoculant assumes a highly competitive and strong position in the soil. "It means that other microbiological fungi living like these pathogenic fungi cannot compete with them," explains the specialist.

Csaba Ország, Sales and Marketing Director at Terragro

Csaba Ország emphasizes that the Bacillus subtilis strain "covers or creates a layer" around the plant's root system, providing a kind of "protection." "Any pathogenic fungus cannot simply come into contact with the root system. Therefore, this is very effective protection," he points out. According to him, the results recorded so far with this bio-input are "very good." "This is a form of biological prevention that can be used. It is a cost-effective environmental solution that can be simply sprayed and incorporated into the soil," he specifies.

Bio-inputs in Eastern Europe

Csaba Ország also mentions that bio-inputs are growing much faster than the conventional market in Europe. According to him, this market is growing between 10% to 20% annually. "Our portfolio is mainly focused on soil bacteria. We are capable of producing and developing our products and also have a distribution company," he states.

"Developing bacterial products is a very difficult and complex matter. We are proud to come from Hungary, a small country, and as a family-owned company. And we continuously manage to grow in neighboring markets," he projects.

Talking about the challenges the bio-inputs market faces in Europe, he cites two different challenges. "One of the challenges is in the market, on the end-user side, as most farmers are a bit reluctant to use this type of solution. Biological products are a bit challenging to be accepted by farmers," he admits.

However, the specialist asserts that the market is growing, and farmers will follow these trends sooner or later. "At this moment and in recent years, we have difficulties explaining how these products work, and convincing farmers about the effects. It's a significant task for small local companies like us," he points out.

On the other hand, he highlights that major players, large multinationals, are also getting involved. "Every year there is a big acquisition; they keep buying products, and continue acquiring companies in this field. So, seeing that, it's a positive trend," he affirms.

Regulatory Barrier

The other challenge, Csaba Ország explains, is regulatory: "If you want to sell a biological product in the European Union, you have to follow the regulations. But at the moment, it's not very easy."

"There was a trend, a new law that came out last year, which aimed to make the sale and registration of these products a bit easier. But in reality, it's not easy at the moment," he laments. According to him, several companies are waiting for updates in European regulatory law, but at this moment, the law is still outdated within the European Union.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)