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News from the markets

Nematodes get the (bio) boot in Brazil

Meloidogyne incognita and Pratylenchus brachyurus won’t be names that roll off the tongue for most of us. At least, not in their Latin form.

But switch into common language and it’s a fair bet that the root-knot nematode and root-lesion nematode will prompt some familiarity. They have the dubious distinction of being the two most damaging nematodes – tiny worms – anywhere in the world.

M. incognita is far and away the most significant, capable of adapting to (i.e. damaging) more than 3,000 different plant species. P. brachyurus is also widely spread amongst different crops, from maize to citrus to coffee, not forgetting soybeans, sugar cane, cotton and yam.

They’re a problem, causing billions of dollars of losses and costs for farmers around the world. And there’s no simple treatment: the nematodes’ ability to colonise so many crops presents difficulty in adopting universal management strategies to deal with them, whether chemical controls such as sprays, fumigation, or seed treatments, or cultural controls in the form of tillage, crop rotation or cover crops.

So is there a third way worthy of investigation? Never one to shirk a challenge, FertiGlobal Brasil started a search for innovative solutions that might help growers reduce the nematodes’ effects on crop yields and quality. Brazil – a true powerhouse in global agriculture – grows in some quantities the crops in which these pests cause so much damage:

One in three cups of the world’s coffee comes from Brazil
Seven out of every ten glasses of orange juice originate in Brazil
Brazil’s the biggest exporter of sugar cane and soybeans

Biological trials

Why use chemicals if (a) they’re not totally effective and (b) if you don’t have to? That’s the Fertiglobal approach to crop production; it’s the approach enthusiastically taken by the Brazilian team in their research.

What you’re about to read is the first we’ve talked in any detail about our new bionematicide. We’re very excited about it and not just because of the results we’ve seen in the very first trials conducted last year.

It’s also that Brazil just happens to be one of the best countries, the best markets, in which to bring new bio-based products to market. Its structured but productive regulatory framework allows farmers to benefit from biological products in the field, thanks to a quick and smooth process that sees the implementation of new policy and swift registrations of new products. There really is no better place to roll out innovations like this, given the volume of crops, the two-crop growing season, and farmers’ willing adoption of new products and techniques.

Catchy names

It’s still a bit too early to give too much away about our exciting new product, so for now let’s just refer to it by prototype 1 and prototype 2, the result of long studies in the lab to identify biological control agents that are capable of delivering an agronomically valuable result against root nematodes.

In the field trials, we evaluated the bionematicide against the two nematodes, using a common bean crop with natural mixed infestation.
Applications of the nematicide were made in-furrow or as seed treatment
An existing bionematicide (containing Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis) was used as a microbiological standard
Nematode populations were assessed at 25 and 50 days after emergence (DAE)
Yield was measured at harvest (14% moisture)

Results

Our team’s comments

‘What a result!’ was the overwhelming reaction.

For the first field trial to show such promising results was a terrific vindication of the team’s hard work and diligence in developing the product. Add to that their deep and detailed understanding of the active’s behaviour, guiding its deployment in trials and contributing to the success seen in the charts above.

While they speak for themselves, it’s helpful to pick up on a few points:

Clearly the in-furrow application at the 0.6l/ha rate delivered the best overall biological performance, as well as the highest grain yield.
Seed treatment performed well against M. incognita in roots but was not robust for P. brachyurus management when used alone.
Commercially, what’s of most interest is the combined reduction of root infection, egg density and reproduction. It’s this combination – effectiveness in the current crop, and a reduced incidence in the next crop – that present the best agronomic return.

Next steps?

Well, results like these are exciting. Not just for the team in Brazil, but for everyone who supports the FertiGlobal ideal: being active in crop protection without needing to be active in ‘crop protection chemicals’.

It’s been one thing to demonstrate how a healthy crop – achieved through appropriate nutrition – can be a crop that’s capable of defending itself against pests and disease threats. But it’s quite another to move beyond that, and to show that in the cases where healthiness just isn’t enough – such as with nematode attack – we can still deliver the biological solution that works.

Keep watching this space. There are still a few more hoops to jump through before we can tell you that prototype 1 and prototype 2 are ready for Brazilian farmers, but it won’t be far off.

Of course, they’ll come with a better name too.

Focus on pulses

Feeling the pulse in Argentina

This time our blog takes us to Argentina.

What crops would you associate with Argentina? Maize? Soybeans? Wheat?

Well, you’d be right about those. Together with sunflowers, these four crops account for more than 90% of the country’s total crop area. So it’s a reflection of the size of Argentina’s cropland – 35 million hectares, to be precise – that from that remaining 10 per cent, Argentina can also stake a claim to being one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of pulses.

In fact, Argentina enjoys the number five spot in the pulse production global rankings. With Argentinians themselves apparently indifferent about the pulse – annual domestic consumption is just 800g per capita – the country’s pulse growers focus their efforts on beans, peas and chickpeas for export to the Middle East, Latin America and the Mediterranean.

And while there’s evident diversity in Argentina’s pulse cropping, it’s the green pea that stands out as the obvious ‘hero’. Farmers have taken advantage of the country’s ideal growing conditions for peas: fertile soils, a favourable climate and (over the last season, at least) optimum rainfall to ensure a healthy, heavy crop. Added to that, its southern hemisphere location provides an ideal opportunity for counter-seasonal production.

In fact, according to an early-January prediction from the Global Pulse Confederation, Argentina is on track to deliver its largest-ever green pea crop this season, estimated at some 264,000 tonnes. That’s 108% above the five-year average and a massive 48% year-on-year increase.

It’s not just about meeting market demand, however. The green pea is a winter-spring crop for Argentinian farmers, easy-to-grow and profitable, that allows them to take a later crop of soybeans from the same field.

Unsurprisingly, Argentina’s pea growers also recognise the vital role that the green pea – as a legume – plays in sustainable agriculture. It’s these same attributes – improving soil biodiversity and health, easing crop rotations, improving chemical fertiliser use efficiency – that were recognised and highlighted by the UN’s World Pulse Day initiative, alongside its equally important role in global nutrition, food security, dietary diversity and efficiency.

FertiGlobal trials

It doesn’t take much to connect the dots. FertiGlobal’s own interests in sustainable agriculture, nutrient use efficiency, soil health and biodiversity clearly align well with the objectives of World Pulse Day, while our presence in Argentina is unsurprisingly focused on helping farmers ‘get more from less’ when it comes to their most important and most profitable crops.

Readers familiar with our blogs will recall how FertiGlobal’s head of technical development for the LATAM region, Josefina Mackern, enjoys nothing more than having ‘boots on the ground’ when it comes to technical development and application.

Enter our green pea trials in Argentina, conducted during the 2024 season. Josefina worked with FertiGlobal partner Synergy Agro to investigate how two of our technology platforms – Folistim and ACES – could improve yield and productivity in the green pea crop.

ACES

Our ACES Technology – Advanced Crop Eco Shield – combines natural nutrients that our R&D programme has proven to have beneficial effects on vital plant defence systems.

Galle, the product chosen for this trial, is a seed treatment designed to be applied in conjunction with, and to support, the inoculants commonly used in legume cultivation. Seed treatment allows these bioactive compounds to initiate these defence systems at an early stage in crop development, helping to ‘future proof’ each plant against subsequent pathogenic attack.

Five treatments (as table 1) and five replicates were employed, totalling 30 plots at the trial site in Heavy, Buenos Aires province.

Table 1

Observations were made of vegetative growth (plant survival and establishment, fresh shoot and root weight) and at harvest (hectolitre weight, thousand-kernel weight, and grain yield).

As Chart 1 reveals, the application to green peas of biostimulants as seed treatments is important for crop establishment and growth: Galle resulted in approximately 7% higher initial growth.

Chart 1: Plant establishment

Several differences were observed in yield, consistent with the early growth observations. While treatment with the competitor 2 (Trichoderma) achieved the highest yield, Galle at 200ml per 100kg of pea seed was only marginally behind – representing a suitable biostimulant option when used in conjunction with inoculants.

Chart 2: Yield

Folistim

As with ACES, Folistim Technologies are formulated around natural compounds, in this case complexed with essential plant nutrients. The range is designed to biostimulate crops into optimising their use of nutrient elements so that they first prioritise vegetative growth and then support fruit quality and conservation.

In a second trial, the focus was on Rumis, a Folistim product that’s specifically formulated to favour development of roots and shoots. Its auxin-like effects promote earlier vegetative growth, especially in seedlings.

Also conducted in Heavy, this trial featured seven treatments made at two timings – first at flowering, then a second at pod formation.

Table 2

Assessments were made of vegetative growth (fresh shoot weight) and at harvest (pod length and grain yield). As Table 3 reveals, Rumis-treated plants displayed the heaviest fresh shoot weights.

Table 3: Fresh shoot weight

*Evaluation 20 days after the first application

When it came to yield, no major differences were observed in pod length but there was an apparent trend towards increased pod length when biostimulants were applied during pod formation.

As for yield (Chart 3), Rumis achieved the highest yield when it was applied at pod development (R4).

Chart 3: Yield

Although only an exploratory study, this trial nevertheless demonstrated the value of a biostimulant such as Rumis. Applied foliarly at 1l/ha, at full flowering and during pod development, it represents a highly suitable biostimulant to improve the green pea crop yield.

Conclusion

Argentina’s green pea cropped area is increasing rapidly. It’s not just because the end of the drought has restored fields to their optimum pulse-growing capacity, but also because in peas (and in pulses more generally) Argentina’s farmers have found a crop that can replace wheat in regions where it has lost profitability due to political, economic, and climatic conditions.

New crops demand new understandings and new techniques. We’re delighted to support Argentina’s growers in their adoption of crops like green peas.

The FertiGlobal concept

It’s crop protection. Just different.

Will you farm differently in 2026? FertiGlobal’s set on providing farmers with the tools they need to successfully adopt a new approach to crop protection.

When you think of crop protection, you probably think of agrochemicals, right? That’s the traditional approach to crop protection: inputs which, when applied to the crop, build up a chemical shield to defend against attack from diseases and pests.

It’s a tried-and-tested method. And it allows farmers to produce reliable quantities of food at affordable prices. But could we do better?

Stress

Here’s the thing: amongst the world’s staple crops, we lose on average about 70% of crop productivity due to stress, whether abiotic or biotic. Most crops never reach even 20% of their true potential.

Yet because it’s not always obvious when a crop is stressed, many farmers don’t realise the scale of the problem. Thus hidden stress translates into hidden loss.

Rethinking crop protection

We reframed the problem and redefined the category: crop protection should be about supporting plants to cope with stress. We would develop products that could empower plants to defend themselves, through their own defence and resistance systems, without the reliance on pesticides.

Our approach to crop protection encompasses three elements:

Nutrition, to provide energy
Bioactivation, to prime and prepare the plant to cope adequately in a stress situation
Biostimulation, to help the plant mobilise its anti-stress mechanism

It’s all about the nutrition

We believe in a crop protection that’s built on a sound understanding of crop nutrition. Intensive crop nutrition gives crops the best protection – against pests, against disease, against the stress arising from extremes of weather – to in turn ensure productive, high-yielding, high-quality output.

Wrap this all up in a long-term, holistic methodology and you have the Crop Management Vision that underpins our entire strategy.

Built on Technology

Bioactivation is the innovative heart of our programme. First introduced through our EnNuVi platform – an acronym of Enhance, Nurture, Vitalize – this combination of active polyphenols and selected natural ingredients is protected by patent and scientifically validated in ongoing trials and assessments.

Its primary effect we term the ‘stay-green’ effect. By keeping the plant green, we maximise photosynthesis and thus available energy. Not only does this ‘turbocharge’ the plant’s natural defence system, it also directly increases yield. Meanwhile, secondary effects include reduced pesticide volumes and decreased water consumption, thanks to the plant’s ability to better manage periods of stress.

Crop Management Programs (CMP)

Think of EnNuVi as the ‘engine’ for the rest of the CMP, towing a train comprising products drawn from our other technologies:

Foliflo and Folimac for the all-important delivery of nutrition
Folistim to provide the biostimulation that draws everything together.

Our team, both those in headquarters in Italy and in-country, use products drawn from each of our flagship technologies to compile specific, tailored CMPs for each crop. For example, a crop needing vegetative yield (lettuce, for example) will have a different nutritional and biostimulant requirement from that producing reproductive yield (fruit).

Every CMP is designed to help the plant manage stress more efficiently, allowing farmers to deliver the high-yielding, high-quality output from whatever crop they’re growing: cereals, vegetables, root crops, or fruit.

It’s a programme that puts equal focus on the environment as well as farmers’ investment in their crop. Taken together, that’s how we deliver a truly sustainable form of agriculture that’s fit for the challenges of the 21^st century.

Throughout this year, we’ll regularly look more closely at how our different technologies perform in the field, with stories drawn from our team’s work around the world.

In the meantime, if you’d like to find out more about how Crop Management Programs could work on your farm or with your customers, do get in touch with one of our FertiGlobal Area Managers.

We’ll help you farm differently.

World Day

A celebration of soils

Take a moment to consider the wonder of soils

What an incredible resource we have in our soils.

Just look at the facts.

Soils provide the basis for 95% of the food consumed by the eight billion people around the world: it supplies 15 of the 18 chemical elements necessary for plant growth.

And that soil in which we grow our crops? It’s home to nearly two-thirds of the planet’s species: in fact, there are more living organisms in a tablespoon of soil than there are people on Earth.

Yet, despite this importance, around one-third of the world’s soils are classified as degraded or depleted. But it can take up to 1,000 years to produce just 2cm of ‘new’ soil.

Moreover, two billion people around the world grow crops that don’t supply enough of the essential micronutrients needed for a healthy diet. And if we were to adopt more sustainable soil management practices, we could increase the world’s food production by nearly 60%.

Facts that more people should know? That’s the aim behind World Soil Day, celebrated on December 5 every year since 2014. Originally setting out to raise global awareness about the role of soils in agricultural development, ecosystem functions and food security, the day now functions as a global platform for action and advocacy, an annual window onto the wider and sustained work of the Global Soil Partnership.

Agriculture’s role

Agriculture is the world’s biggest ‘user’ of soils. And our attempts to conserve them are made more pressing by the threat of climate change. Yet there’s much we can do: reducing erosion and pollution, enhancing water filtration and holding capacity.

The growing awareness of ‘regenerative’ agriculture – effectively putting the soil at the heart of the farming system – has helped to highlight the opportunities we have to make agriculture part of the solution to climate change and ecosystem degradation, through its ability to restore and increase soil biodiversity, improve fertility and support carbon sequestration.

The ‘overlooked’ soils

Those who live in towns and cities will recognise the importance of soil in supplying their daily food. But even though they might not walk upon it, covered as much of it is by concrete and asphalt and buildings and roads, urban soils are also fundamental.

That’s why the theme of this year’s World Soil Day is “Healthy Soils for Healthy Cities”, striving to emphasise how soil in the city can play a vital role in absorbing rainwater, regulating temperature, storing carbon and improving air quality.

The aim is to ensure that soils, wherever they are, are used appropriately and looked after sympathetically. Both in the countryside and in the city, soils can help us be greener, more resilient, and healthier.

FertiGlobal supports WSD

The sentiment behind World Soil Day fits perfectly with our own objectives here at FertiGlobal. We recognise the importance of soils: healthy soils are good for all of us. And that’s why within our product portfolio we have technologies, like EnNuVi, that are designed to work in partnership with the soil, not against it, thus helping growers to build and maintain healthy soils for themselves, their crops, and their customers.

Repeated or extended use of harsh chemical inputs can have a devastating effect on soil health and biodiversity, so simple decisions – like those we promote through our dedicated Crop Management Programmes – can significantly boost farmers’ efforts to conserve their soils.

That’s why every FertiGlobal product is ultimately designed to help a grower avoid or reduce their use of harsh chemicals. For soil’s sake.

Technical News

The Not-So-Invisible Enemy: Nematodes Destroy Yields Around the World

by Bernardo Borges, PhD – FertiGlobal Technical Manager Brazil

On a hot summer afternoon in Brazil, a farmer looks at his yield map and sees the same picture as always: red patches that grow a little larger each year, where the harvester slows down and yields stubbornly stay lower. The soil has been corrected and fertilized, weeds, pests and diseases are under control, and the nutritional program was carefully designed. Everything went according to plan. “It must be the weather,” he thinks. Maybe the soil is “tired.” What he usually does not realize is that, just a few centimeters below his boots, a different story is unfolding.

In the root zone, hundreds of thousands of plant parasites are quietly stealing his yield long before the crop reaches the trucks. Nematodes silently feed, weaken roots and destroy productivity, but they are often ignored simply because we rarely see them. Their impact on agriculture, however, is anything but small.

Across all continents and production systems, nematodes act like a hidden toll on plant roots. A meta-analysis conducted by the American Phytopathological Society, grouping crops such as soybean, maize, wheat, rice, potato and sugar crops, showed that approximately 14% of potential yield is lost even before harvest — amounting to around US$125 billion in direct losses every year. Similar scenarios are reported in tobacco, banana and other high-value crops. In those fields, nematodes are not just “one more factor”: they are often the difference between profit and loss.

Part of the reason these parasites are ignored lies in how their damage appears in the field. Nematodes do not leave bite marks, they do not show up as clouds above the canopy, and they do not cover leaves with mycelium. They puncture roots, induce galls, create lesions and compromise water and nutrient uptake. Aboveground, many symptoms resemble nitrogen deficiency, water stress, poor seed quality or soil compaction. Without a clear understanding of what is really happening, these signs are often underestimated and attributed to other causes. It is no coincidence that it is still common to hear farmers say, “I don’t have nematodes in my fields.” Not having them is one thing; not knowing they are there is something quite different.

Brazil offers a clear example of how serious this “hidden” problem can become. A recent study conducted by the Brazilian Nematology Society, in partnership with private institutions, analyzed soil and root samples from across the country and detected nematodes in more than 90% of the samples evaluated. As mentioned before, not so invisible after all. This pressure costs Brazilian agriculture several tens of billions of dollars every year. In soybean — the country’s flagship crop — when the effect of nematodes is considered over time and across different regions, the conclusion is simple and uncomfortable: one out of every ten harvests is lost to them. A similar story is seen in crops such as coffee, sugarcane and citrus, where these organisms do not only reduce yield, but also shorten the lifespan of perennial plantations.

Why, then, despite this scale of damage, does the problem still sometimes seem secondary in agriculture? One reason is psychological: we tend to focus on what we can see. Another lies in the way nematodes erode productivity—gradually, in a cumulative and silent way. A few percentage points less yield this year, a bit more next year, a coffee field replanted earlier than planned, a sugarcane field with a sharp drop in production. No single event feels dramatic enough to demand an immediate reaction, but the long-term effect on productivity and profitability is substantial. The good news is that this enemy is not invincible.

Turning nematodes from a chronic, silent loss into a manageable risk starts with a simple step: making them visible in our decision-making. In recent years, routine soil and root sampling has been shifting the mindset from “I don’t have nematodes in my fields” to “what can I do to control this pest?”. Biological solutions and advances in soil health strategies have added new layers of protection within an integrated management approach. Beneficial microorganisms that parasitize or antagonize nematodes, improvements in soil structure and organic matter levels, and the use of antagonistic crops or species that exude toxic compounds to these parasites — breaking away from conventional rotation — have all been added to this toolbox. Seeing, measuring and integrating these tools turns nematodes from a hidden villain into a manageable risk within the strategy for productivity and system longevity.

Ultimately, recognizing nematodes as part of the production equation is deciding that we will no longer silently give up one harvest in every ten. As we incorporate diagnostics, integrated management, biological innovation and plant bioactivation strategies into our routine, we move from merely reacting to red patches on the yield map to building more resilient, profitable and sustainable systems. The enemy beneath our feet remains microscopic, but once it is seen, measured and managed it loses the power to decide the future of the crop – it becomes just another variable under our control.

News from the market

Banana Drama

A third-quarter earnings call from Fresh Del Monte – one of the world’s largest suppliers of bananas – has intensified concerns about destabilisation of supplies of the world’s most popular fruit.

Keen readers of the FertiGlobal blog will recall our earlier story about the threat facing the common banana. That stepped up a gear last week, as Fresh Del Monte chairman and CEO Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh highlighted the ‘mounting pressure’ on the industry.

Abu-Ghazaleh’s warning was starkly illustrated by confirmation that Fusarium Wilt Tropical Race 4 (TR4) was now present in Ecuador, the world’s sixth-biggest banana producer and the largest in Latin America.

He also warned that the ‘serious escalation’ of TR4 now present in Ecuador meant it was now ‘just a matter of time’ before TR4 spread to Central America.

The Fresh Del Monte CEO also pointed to the effect of another devastating banana disease, black sigatoka, in Costa Rica – where the company grows bananas on its own farms. He said the disease – caused by the fungus Mycosphaerella fijiensis – had seen production decline by 22% in a year. “That’s 18 million boxes lost,” he said.

Growers were taking every possible measure to control the disease, he said, but were facing severe financial strain as the price of the preferred fungicide has risen by nearly 50% over the past two years.

Against this background, it’s a sensible time to revisit the trials work conducted by FertiGlobal to identify additional measures available to banana growers. We looked primarily at our EnNuVi Technology, the patented nutrient-polyphenolic molecule whose main effect is strengthening the plant’s natural defence systems.

All the evidence shows that when a plant has access to a balanced combination of nutrients, its susceptibility to both biotic and abiotic stresses is greatly reduced. What’s more, the increased energy levels attributable to higher, more efficient photosynthetic processes mean that it can better use its own defence systems to ward off attacks by pathogens such as those responsible for black sigatoka.

If a plant can resist infection through its own means, then the need for expensive fungicides is greatly reduced – not only saving input costs for the grower but helping to lessen the chance that the fungus will adapt to the chemicals in use, lessening its effectiveness.

In trials conducted in India the FertiGlobal technical team examined the losses induced in banana plants through leaf wilting. Where plants were treated with the EnNuVi-enabled Semia, the percentage of wilting plants was slashed to less than 10%, compared with more than half for those managed with farmer standard practice. What’s more, while farmer standard practice led to a loss in crop ROI of over $200/ha, the investment loss in Semia-treated plants was reduced by 85%.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines – one of the countries where Fresh Del Monte has its own farms –, the trial proposed whether EnNuVi could increase the number of functional leaves on each banana plant, boosting overall plant health and energy levels to help it fight stress and attack.

Mantus provided the best result: a 44% increase in functional leaves, over the standard practice, after 45 days.

EnNuVi products will never be a direct replacement for mancozeb – they are not fungicides and don’t exhibit any fungicidal properties – they do fully express the concept of Total Crop Management. If applied at the correct time in the crop cycle, they can provide growers with an earlier alternative that may alleviate the need for subsequent applications of fungicides.

It’s not an outright solution, but it’s a positive step in the right direction.

Trip report

Upping the ante in Latin America

It’s been six years since FertiGlobal took its first tentative steps into Latin America. We knew back then that the acquisition of Agrigento Fertilizantes would mark the beginning of something special…and so it has proved to be, as Laura Galli – FertiGlobal’s Global Marketing Director – discovered during her recent visit.

We always banked on EnNuVi being the flagship Technology here. Brazilian farmers are well-informed and hungry for innovation – understandably, EnNuVi’s bioactivating properties, demonstrated through sound science, captured their interest immediately.

We’ve said before how we found Brazilian farmers often as well informed as their counterparts in North America and Europe. And this year we used that enthusiasm and familiarity as a lever – hosting the first LATAM EnNuVi Ambassadors’ Meeting.

I don’t use the term ‘turning point’ lightly – but that’s exactly what this was, drawing on scientific and technical collaboration to deliver a clear and ambitious route through the topic of plant bioactivation.

Bringing together 12 distinguished advisers and researchers from across the region – not just Brazil, but also Argentina, Chile, Peru and Paraguay – the two-day event was wide-ranging, taking in annual crops, vegetables, fruit trees, yerba mate, coffee and tea.

Global knowledge, local focus

Cerquilho, in Sao Paolo state, is FertiGlobal’s powerhouse in Brazil. Here lies the plant, the lab and the office – the three essentials for our success. In keeping with our commitment to global quality and consistency, all manufacturing takes place at the Larderello plant in Italy – here in Brazil, the products are received inbound in IBCs, to be made up into EnNuVi Technology-based products for distribution.

Lab work comprises quality control too, but also a sizeable R&D activity to provide for local needs. With the speed at which the Brazilian market is moving, coupled with the favourable regulatory environment – government policy is encouraging adoption of more sustainable methods and inputs – it’s vital that we can keep up to speed with local developments and opportunities.

Such examples were masterfully explained by Ricardo Wolfgramm, FertiGlobal Brasil marketing manager. Products like Strato, Assoluto, Camen, Veloce, Galle – each of these products has been developed by the FertiGlobal Brasil team to meet a need identified through local experience. Such is their suitability and applicability to local conditions that they are now rolling out into South and Central America too.

But of course the plant and the lab – they’re only as good as the products they turn out, which in turn are only as good as the results they yield. Our entire strategy in Brazil is about the farmer, so how do we reach the farmer? Through demonstration farms that allow us to explain what makes a product right for a given situation, its agronomic efficiency, and its comparison with conventional programmes. Total Crop Management, in action.

Coffee Colossus

If you didn’t know already, Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee. More than one-third of the world’s coffee – around four million tonnes a year – is grown in Brazil. Arabica and Robusta, the two major coffee varieties, thrive in the Brazilian climate; its coffee is favoured for low acidity and its nutty, chocolatey taste.

So, when visiting Brazil, where better to take a Global Marketing Director than coffee plantations?

Nossa Senhora da Conceição e Progresso is well-known to FertiGlobal, being the location of a major ongoing trial with one of the world’s most famous coffee brands. The operation uses FertiGlobal products on nearly a quarter of its planted area, the resultant coffee fully certified for sustainability, and remarkable for its autonomy: from product applications to harvest and processing, the whole sequence is automated.

Fazenda Jambeiro, in contrast, combines coffee production with dairy and poultry enterprises, but its claim to fame is longevity: some of its oldest plantations are 45 years old, producing sought-after beans that are regarded as amongst the highest quality on the market. Measured using the Specialty Coffee Association’s ‘cupping score’ – an aggregation of 10 attributes – a figure of 80 or above qualifies the beans as ‘specialty grade’. Fazenda Jambeiro? Scores of 90, regarded as exceptional.

Sugarcane: more than sugar

It’s not just coffee for which Brazil ranks top of the charts. The country also enjoys its status as the world’s top producer and exporter of sugarcane. Yet it’s not all about sugar: besides the many industrial uses for sugarcane, such as ethanol and bioplastics, Brazilians also take pride in using sugarcane juice to produce their national drink, cachaça.

Often described as ‘rum’s cousin’, national production of cachaça is around 1.3 billion litres a year – and just 1% of that is exported; Brazilians want to keep it to themselves! Nevertheless, in a bid to try to help the Global Marketing Director find the true ‘essence’ of Brazilian agriculture, the team laid on a visit to Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”, in Piracicaba, to learn about the production of this famed spirit.

It’s one of nearly 1,300 cachaça producers nationwide, together responsible for more than 7,000 different product registrations: cachaça comes in many varieties, from the unaged ‘white’ to countless wood-aged specialities, some of which may lay in the barrel for up to 18 years.

With such a multitude of tastes and flavour profiles, it’s no wonder Brazilians have coined more than 2,000 words to describe it: everything from abre-coração (heart-opener) and água-benta (holy water) to bafo-de-tigre (tiger breath) and limpa-olho (eye-wash)!

After caipirinhas all-round, the following day it was time to get down to more business with our EnNuVi Ambassadors. A short introduction from Gustavo Branco, CEO of FertiGlobal Brasil, set the scene for Claus Brakemeier, Business Development Manager, to explain more about the principles underpinning EnNuVi Technology.

We were also pleased to host Professor Fabricio Rodrigues of Viscosa University, Prof Jorge Llontop and Prof João Ascari, who between them presented – to great interest – the scientific rationale behind EnNuVi and how it translates into real results in the field.

In short, a terrific inaugural EnNuVi Ambassadors’ Event. Not only could we demonstrate the positive effect of EnNuVi Technology on agricultural productivity and sustainability, but also benefit from an open exchange of experiences – the challenges, insights and lessons that they brought from their own agricultural contexts.

Its legacy is a network of experts across LATAM committed to agricultural innovation, and a reaffirmation of FertiGlobal’s leadership in developing sustainable solutions. It’s something we hope to repeat in further regions.

Green chemicals

Larderello’s A-Z: from Agriculture to ZHS

Agriculture, you know all about.

But ZHS?

You’re forgiven if you’ve never heard of it. It stands for zinc hydroxystannate and Larderello is about to start making a lot more of it.

We’ll be honest at this point: ZHS is not a new agrochemical. At FertiGlobal, our focus remains our founding mission: to reduce the use of harsh chemicals in agriculture, by developing bio-activating technologies and advanced crop nutrition solutions that boost plant natural defences and improve resilience to climate change and other adversities.

Yet the overriding objective common to FertiGlobal and Larderello, as the sister operating units of SCL, is to build on over 200 years of chemical innovation by looking to new solutions – be those products or processes – that reduce environmental impact and increase safety.

This is why ZHS is so important. It’s from the important category of flame retardants – chemicals that, when added to other materials, slow down or inhibit the spread of fire. They’re in widespread use – think of fabrics, construction materials, even aircraft interiors. All use flame retardants to either help prevent accidents, or to slow the further development of flames should a fire take hold.

But in a parallel with agrochemicals, some of the earlier, more commonly used flame retardants are being phased out, as newer and safer products come to market. ZHS is one of those newer products: its non-toxic profile, ability to reduce smoke emissions and significant end-of-life environmental advantages (for example, it can be recycled without issue) have helped make it an ‘in demand’ chemical. It can be incorporated into a wide range of materials including important polymers (or plastics) such as PVC and nylon, including many of the plastics used in horticulture – for example in greenhouses.

Larderello started to manufacture ZHS in 2011. Now, with increased demand for the chemical and the company’s overall commitment to reduce its environmental footprint across every aspect of its operations – from production to end-use – the time has come to invest in a new plant that will not only double production capacity but also reduce the energy needed to produce every kilogram of ZHS.

What’s more, this commitment to greener technology, sustainable production and resource-efficiency qualifies the new plant as an Industry 5.0 project. In turn, that’s meant we’ve been granted a €6.5 million loan from UniCredit’s Futuro Sostenibile Plus, an initiative dedicated to companies that commit to improving their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.

That’s also come with the backing of the Growth Guarantee from SACE, the insurance-financial group owned by Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance. Which, as SACE itself explains, ‘elevates a company like SCL and contributes to our country’s green and digital transition goals’.

For us at FertiGlobal, the ZHS news reaffirms to us – and we hope our customers too – the real commitment that underlines the FertiGlobal approach. Sustainability isn’t just a veneer; it runs right through us, in everything we do.

Take EnNuVi, for example. Awarded through the European LIFE programme, this is – literally – a roots-up technology aiming to change the environmental impact of agriculture on the environment, without compromising the demand for food and productivity. By rethinking our approach, we were able to create a brand-new formulation combining bioactive polyphenols with nutritive elements. Its effect? The triggering and control of plants’ natural defences to counter biotic and abiotic stresses, all the while decreasing the use of pesticides, reducing water consumption, and improving on-farm resilience.

Wherever there’s an opportunity to reduce environmental impact, to make better use of resources, to make all our products human-centric – from flame-retardants to farming, we’ll do it.

IPNC 2025

Bean and done it… more

Scientists will be scientists. Experiments and trials are their lifeblood.

And as we explained in our previous blog, these trials are vital in ensuring the success of FertiGlobal’s Total Crop Management approach. We need science, we need evidence, we need proof.

Where better to source that evidence than from a scientist who’s conducted his own experiments for no other reason than to satisfy his own interest?

That’s what led Professor Carlos Ribeiro Rodrigues, of the Goiano Federal Institute at Rio Verde, Brazil, to present a set of studies about FertiGlobal’s EnNuVi Technology at this month’s International Plant Nutrition Colloquium, held in Porto, Portugal.

Boosting Natural Defence

EnNuVi products regulate and influence crop genes, allowing it to trigger and control plants’ defence and resistance systems. In conjunction with one of his students, Professor Rodrigues began a trial with the EnNuVi products Mantus and Semia.

In seeking to get the most practical benefit from the trial, Rodrigues and his student – Humberto Pistore Eleuterio – chose to work with the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris. Why? Because despite being a staple crop in dozens of countries, the smallholders who grow it struggle to make it productive. They’re also the farmers least suited to reliance on harsh chemicals, such as fungicides.

A product such as Mantus, which harnesses the known abilities of copper compounds in combating disease and combines them with polyphenols, or Semia with its zinc, present real opportunities to reimagine the production of staple crops in a way that benefits people and planet too.

Mantus – The Trial

Effects on photosynthesis, growth and yield were assessed. A rigorous protocol was established, involving a randomised complete block design deploying five treatments: copper (Cu), cytokinin (Cyt), Cu + cytokinin (Cu+Cyt), copper + polyphenol (Mantus), and propiconazole.

Applications were made at V2 (two fully expanded trifoliolate leaves) and V5 (axillary bud development) growth stages.

Photosynthetic pigments and chlorophyll fluorescence were measured seven days after treatment. Photosynthesis and above ground dry mass were assessed at the second measurement, while at harvest thousand-grain weight, pod number and grain yield were recorded.

Results showed that during the vegetative stages, propiconazole and Mantus showed superior performance in phosynthetic pigments. No differences in photosynthesis, dry mass, pod number or stems were observed between treatments.

However, Mantus out-performed all other treatments in yield, thousand-grain weight, and overall agronomic efficiency.

Semia – The Trial

In subjecting Semia to a similar assessment, Rodrigues and Eleuterio were seeking to understand its potential for stress alleviation.

The common bean is highly susceptible to both abiotic and biotic stresses; climate change is likely only to increase their incidence and intensity. Plant scientists have previously studied ‘resistance inducers’, such as silicon (S) and nitric oxide (NO).

Silicon is known to improve a plant’s mechanical resistance, toughening leaves and stems. It also reduces transpiration and increases photosynthesis.

Nitric oxide works to activate the plant’s systemic acquired resistance (SAR).

Meanwhile, Semia contains polyphenols and zinc, both of which are known to boost antioxidant enzyme activity. Antioxidant levels rise sharply when plants are stressed.

Again, a randomised block design was utilised for the trial, comparing silicon (Si), nitric oxide (NO), Si+NO, and Zinc+Polyphenol (Zn+Poly) against a control. Treatments with Si, NO, and Si+NO were applied at V3 and R8 stages, while Zn+Poly was applied at V3 (three fully expanded trifoliolate leaves), V4-R (reproductive, full pod), and R8 (full maturity).

Photosynthetic pigments, chlorophyll A fluorescence, and photosynthesis were

assessed seven days after R8. At harvest, pod number, thousand-grain weight, and yield were evaluated.

Rodrigues and Eleuterio found that both Semia and the silicon/nitric oxide combination reduced chlorophyll A indices, while Semia also improved chloroplast structure.

However, what really matters to the farmer in the field is the effect on yield. Here Semia came out on top for both yield and pod number, thanks to its effects on overall photochemical efficiency and photosynthesis.

In conclusion…

Thank you to Professor Rodrigues and Humberto Pistore Eleuterio for their diligent studies into Mantus and Semia!

Of course, we’re delighted to see our own results working with these products – and our knowledge of how the entire EnNuVi portfolio works – confirmed by independent experiment. There’s still a lot of uncertainty associated with the biostimulant category, but at FertiGlobal we’ve always focused on the science rather than the ‘puff’. Results like this not only serve to vindicate our own ‘science first’ approach, but do much to assure others that biostimulants have an exciting future in making agriculture more sustainable.

Anticipation of IPNC 2025

Bean and done it

For a scientist, there are few things more satisfying than designing, conducting and completing an experiment that confirms a hypothesis.

As you’d expect, it’s this concept that gets FertiGlobal’s crop scientists out of bed every morning: their commitment to better understand a crop’s nutritional needs. Why? Because by meeting those needs, we can influence everything from growth to yield to plant health, which can in turn give growers what they seek: better crops, better soils, better food and better farming.

But every scientist will also tell you that there IS one thing better. And that is when another scientist takes such an interest in your work that they conduct their own scientific studies – and uncover results that corroborate, independently, all your hard work.

Which is why we’re eagerly anticipating this month’s International Plant Nutrition Colloquium, hosted by the Portuguese city of Porto between 22-25 July. This year’s event centres on Cultivating Resilience: Plant Nutrition for Food, Feed, and Health.

Here, Professor Carlos Ribeiro Rodrigues, of the Goiano Federal Institute at Rio Verde in Brazil, will present a set of studies about FertiGlobal’s EnNuVi Technology-based products – a perfect alignment with the 2025 theme.

Why EnNuVi?

EnNuVi is what we would probably describe as FertiGlobal’s flagship technology. An acronym of Enhance, Nurture, Vitalize, EnNuVi is a bioactivating Technology that has a unique ability to trigger and control plants’ defence and resistance systems.

EnNuVi Technology based products regulate and influence the genes in the plant, helping to protect it from stress events. Its molecule of essential plant nutrients, active polyphenols and selected natural ingredients helps the crop to grow, healthy and strong, to reach its full yield potential.

What most excites us– and many others – about EnNuVi Technology-based products is how they can boost a crop’s natural defence systems. In turn, this can significantly reduce pesticide use. And thus it meets the central tenets of FertiGlobal’s philosophy: reducing farming’s impact on the environment, and ensuring farmers can deliver high-yielding, high-quality output without requiring excessive resource use (EnNuVi also reduces crops’ water consumption).

It was these features that caught the attention of Professor Rodrigues. In conjunction with one of his students, Humberto Pistore Eleuterio, he organised a study of Mantus, one of our most popular EnNuVi-based products. And it’s these results – together with a parallel study into Semia, another product in the EnNuVi portfolio – that will be presented at IPNC next month.

For the study, Rodrigues and Eleuterio chose the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). It’s a key source of protein, vitamins and minerals; in many countries around the world it’s a staple crop and a primary foodstuff.

Despite this, the common bean’s productivity falls short of expectation. To grow better crops, more reliably, more efficiently and in greater quantities, growers – many of them small-scale farmers – must balance agronomic efficiency and resource optimisation. And then there’s the environmental sustainability: current agronomic practice relies on plant growth regulators and fungicides.

The study looked at how Mantus, which contains copper compounds alongside plant polyphenols, and Semia (zinc and polyphenols), might affect photochemical efficacy, photosynthesis, yield and other metrics. EnNuVi products were compared against products used in conventional farmer practice.

We’re not going to steal the team’s thunder by revealing the results here; for those, you’ll have to wait until we share the full information in next month’s blog.

But they did make our own scientists very satisfied…

Look out for the rest of the story next month. If you’re attending IPNC, look out for the poster – it will be presented on Day 3, July 25.

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