Mexican Eliseo Santos wanted to join the tomato boom. About ten years ago, in his orchard in Puebla, he started producing this vegetable for export. However, phytosanitary problems hindered his plans. Diseases such as Phytophthora, Fusarium y Rhizoctonia became an obstacle. His first reaction was to tackle them with the chemicals available on the market. "However, with each season, these diseases became more resistant and prevented the fruit from expressing its true potential," says Santos.
That's when he sought to solve the problem at the root. Literally. The farmer looked for a solution based on microorganisms that improved the life of bacteria, fungi and insects that surround the root system of his vegetables and promoted plant resistance and growth. He combined it with his usual products and the results were not long in coming: "It increased the health and production of the plants," says Santos, who now produces tomatoes for export, as well as cucumbers and peppers. The farmer persists in the idea of using biological solutions to new problems: some of his greenhouses suffer from nematodes, those small worms that can be lethal for the root of the plants. Santos is using a formula based on Paecilomyces lilacinus, a fungus that paralyzes the eggs and females of the pathogen. "We have to keep testing, because they are the future," he says.
Santos' story is repeated among producers of avocados, raspberries and other products that have joined the agro-export boom: a good part of the farmers seeking to take their fruits and vegetables to international markets add biological formulations, such as those based on bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms, to solve the problems they face in their crops.
“Por cada peso que se gasta en biocontrol de plagas y enfermedades, se gastan tres pesos en nutrición y estimulación biológicos”.
Ignacio Simón, president of the Mexican Association of Bioinputs Producers (AMPBIO)
The trend in Mexico, however, is two-fold, reflecting its two main agricultural realities. One is dominated by extensive agriculture of cereals such as corn, wheat, sugarcane, beans and cotton, which are focused on the local market. In the other, a dynamic export sector of higher value products such as avocados, tomatoes and berries prevails. In fact, fruits and vegetables account for most of the nearly US$24 billion in agricultural products exported by Mexico in 2021, according to figures from market research firm FreshFruit Peru, up 10%. They also account for most of the US$200 million that DunhamTrimmer attributes to biocontrol products in Mexico in 2020 and should close the decade at around US$500 million.
However, that is only part of the story. According to Ignacio Simón, president of the Mexican Association of Bioinputs Producers (AMPBIO), for every peso spent on biocontrol of pests and diseases, three pesos are spent on biological nutrition and stimulation. "I don't have exact data, but we are seeing exponential growth," says Simón. "The more than 40 companies associated with AMPBIO generate approximately more than 1,500 direct jobs and more than 5,000 indirect jobs," he adds.
The delay in corn
La dinámica tendencia, no obstante, no incluye a los cultivos extensivos como el maíz, pese a su enorme potencial. México es el país donde se originó el maíz, cereal al que dedica siete millones de sus 22 millones de hectáreas agrícolas. No obstante, más del 40% de su consumo doméstico debe ser cubierto con importaciones. El país no da abasto con su producción por sus bajos niveles de tecnificación y que incluyen un mínimo uso de bioinsumos en sus cultivos. A diferencia de Brasil, donde la producción de soya ha sido clave para el desarrollo de la industria local de bioinsumos, el gran cultivo extensivo de México ha quedado al margen.
"There's always going to be some corn producer out there, or there's always going to be some wheat producer with ideas of sustainability by applying low environmental impact products," says Oscar Cruz, market development director for bioinput firm Innovak Global, founded 65 years ago and whose biological formulations are distributed in 29 countries. "But the reality is that 95% of the market in this type of extensive crops does not have that objective and production system."
Una excepción de uso de bioinsumos en el maíz lo conforman los menonitas, dice Ileana Velásquez, directora en la empresa de bioinsumos Biokrone. “Son productores que suman varios miles de hectáreas en el país y son importante usuarios de biofertilizantes”, dice Velázquez. “No obstante, no apuntan mucho al biocontrol, tal como ocurre en gran parte de México”.
Velázquez señala que, además de las dificultades que tiene el sistema de registro para biocontroladores en el país, hace falta un cambio cultural para que los bioinsectividas, biofungicidas y otros “cidas” biológicos empiecen a usarse de manera masiva en el campo. Dice que en México gusta mucho aún “eso de aplicar un producto y ver, ‘boom‘, como muere el insecto, cómo muere la plaga, de inmediato”, dice. “Pero no es así como funcionan los biocontroladores: los biológicos no son de acción inmediata, son más de control, lo que requiere una cultura de prevención, mucha prevención”.
De hecho, concide con AMPBIO de que el mercado de bioestimulantes y biofertilizantes es más grande que el de biocontroladores. Así lo da cuenta la experiencia de Biokrone que, además de México, tiene productos registrados en ocho países de América y el Caribe. “Nuestra demanda internacional, principalmente de mercados como Brasil, viene principalmente de biocontroladores, pero en México lo que más se venden son los bioestimualntes y biofertilizantes, bajo el concepto de biofortificantes”.
The most advanced crops driving a US$ 400 million market
Cruz explains that the development of bioinputs in Mexico is mainly linked to high-value technified crops whose focus is on exports, starting with avocado, which added exports of US$3 billion in 2021, berries with another US$3 billion and tomatoes, with almost US$2 billion. "These are products that go to markets where there is a willingness to pay for higher process quality, and that allows for greater investment per kilo of production," says Cruz. "Although they have a smaller share of the country's cultivated area, 95% of organic products in Mexico are consumed in intensive crops such as fruit trees that target the international market."
In the last five years, says Cruz, the bioinputs market in Mexico has tripled. According to his own estimates, "it may already be totaling some US $400 million and maintains rates of 15%-20%," says Cruz. "Biologicals are rapidly taking over the market for molecules used in traditional agrochemicals, which are being discontinued due to regulatory issues or market demand."
"Biologicals are rapidly taking over the market for molecules used in traditional agrochemicals, which are being discontinued due to regulatory issues or market demand".
Óscar Cruz, market development director for bioinput firm Innovak Global
For example, some insecticides belonging to families such as organophosphates and carbamates are being totally restricted in their use due to their high toxicity and impact on human health. "In the same case are also some herbicides and fungicides, and so we can identify each year more restrictions on their use and more and more international regulations, such as production certifiers to trade in the markets we are targeting," he says.
For Simón, of AMPBIO, the trend of replacing chemicals with biological products, as well as the greater importance of sustainability in the fields, received a recent boost from high fertilizer prices due to the Covid problems and the war between Russia and Ukraine. "It was an issue that favored us as producers and also led to the fact that more people who were growing crops chemically are now wanting to move into biological processes," says Simón.
This has spurred dynamic corporate activity. This is the case of Cosmocel, a firm based in Monterrey, in northern Mexico, dedicated to the production of special biostimulants and high-tech products for agriculture. It was acquired a few months ago by the Iberian Rovensa group.
Ver artículo “Rovensa extiende alcance global tras incorporar gigante de bioinsumos mexicano”
Una tendencia en la que también ha jugado un rol el Gobierno, que impulsó un programa de bioinsumos, con el objetivo de que las empresas agrícolas desarrollen sus propias formulaciones biológicas. “Pero lo que ha hecho principalmente es promover planes de ‘hágalo usted mismo’, que fomentan un trabajo muy artesanal, guiado por videos de YouTube”, dice Velázquez, de Biokrone.
“Micorrizas es el es el más popular de los biofortificantes que se comercializan en México, debido a un esfuerzo de promoción de un centro de investigación estatal”
Ignacio Simón, president of the Mexican Association of Bioinputs Producers (AMPBIO)
No obstante, Velázquez explica que las micorrizas han alcanzado una alta popularidad justamente debido a un esfuerzo de una institución de investigación del Gobierno por promover su uso. “Este es el más popular de los biofortificantes que se comercializan en México”, dice la directora de Biokrone. “Le siguen los húmicos y fúrbicos, compostas y aminoácidos. Pero deja claro que la acción de promoción del Gobierno sigue siendo un factor clave”.
