Conversations with Javier Velasco, Director of R&D at Bioiberica
Monday, 19 June 2023
Applied Knowledge
As head of R&D and Quality at Bioiberica, what kind of innovations do you propose from this area to address the problem of soil fertility loss and the need to optimize the yield of agricultural crops?
Bioiberica is a pioneer company in the development of biostimulant products based on L-α-amino acids. Our product, Terra-Sorb® radicular, applied by fertigation improves the efficiency in the use of water and fertilizers.
More recently, we have launched a concentrated biostimulant suitable for organic farming, Terramin® Pro, focused on enhancing and protecting the soil microbiome, understanding that the yield and sustainability of the crop are closely linked to the management of the soil it inhabits.
What projects are you currently working on in relation to harnessing the potential of the soil microbiome?
We are currently developing probiotic biostimulation projects through our new Priming Tech™ exclusive fermentation technology. In this technology we use our own strains of microorganisms with mobilizing and solubilizing properties of nutrients that allow us to optimize fertilizer resources, as well as protect soil health at the same time.
We work with studies on the effect of the application of our products on the modification of the functional indices of the soil microbiome, especially those related to the mobilization of nutrients, effects on crop growth and stress tolerance.
What does Bioiberica's Priming Tech™ technology consist of for the development of probiotic biostimulants?
Priming Tech™ technology is based on the use of our L-α-amino acids as a source of Nitrogen to grow and condition strains of microorganisms with high agricultural interest. This provides us with two interesting advantages. The first is the potentiation of secondary metabolites in the fermentation broth with beneficial effects for crops, such as substances that promote plant growth and other bioactive compounds with bioprotective properties.
The second advantage is the prior conditioning of the probiotic microorganism to make it more viable and resistant when the solution is applied in the field. As a result of this technology, we have launched a new product, Terra-Sorb radicular SymBiotic®, specially designed to enhance the symbiosis that exists between biostimulation and biofertilization.