José Luis Moya, general director of Fertinagro Biotech, revealed to the thousand attendees at the Renowagro meeting two new prohibitions that the EU is going to … soon to be implemented in relation to agricultural fertilizers: the use of ‘colorines’, which until now is customary in most granulated formulations, will be abolished, and the practice of spreading any type of fertilizer on top of the soil will be vetoed; It will have to be buried or used only through localized irrigation.
In recent years, the habit of spreading part of the fertilizer over the soil has become quite widespread, even in drip fields, as a background fertilization at the beginning of spring, in case rains arrive that prevent irrigation and, therefore, also prevent fertilizing through it. The reason for this prohibition is that it has been proven that birds and other wild birds ingest ‘pellets’ of fertilizers left on the ground, causing them to become poisoned. As for the ‘colorines’, they have no greater function than the marketing of each brand, but they make it somewhat more expensive and are also toxic.
The new tax on imported fertilizers accelerates less expensive natural alternatives
On January 1, the application of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to imported fertilizers comes into force, which has spread great concern among farmers, since it will represent a significant increase in prices that will further reduce their competitiveness. Faced with this, Fertinagro Biotech has offered the sector its commitment to accelerate work and investments to increase its offer of alternative products that are more effective and even more economical. As José Luis Moya, general director of the company, and Sergio Atares, director of strategic planning, explained to Renowagro attendees, their company’s trajectory has long been to develop fertilizer products, taking advantage of local resources as much as possible and with more effective formulations. Atares cited that they have had urease inhibitors for a quarter of a century, but the competent authorities have not addressed this until now. Likewise, its great efforts in innovating and developing new technologies to improve the use of nutrients and strengthen the alliance of microbial life in the soil put the company in line with current demands. Moya said that “we are prepared to ensure the supply of fertilizers, complying with the new regulations and also with the conviction of gaining efficiency and that the farmer saves costs.”
