Given the push in agroecology by the federal government, the fertilizer program of the Ministry of Agriculture should also consider the delivery of bio-inputs, because these help to regenerate the soil, raise yields and reduce the use of chemicals, a Once in their application, they barely have an efficiency of between 20 and 30 percent, in addition to being the most expensive input in agricultural production, said Marcel Morales, an expert on the subject.
In an interview, he recalled that the use of chemical or synthetic fertilizers began since the so-called Green Revolution, at the beginning of the 70s, and has led to an erosion of the productive capacity of the soils, since they accumulate in them and cause infertility . “Although at one point they helped to increase production, they have been handled irresponsibly,” he said.
Morales, director of Biofabrica Siglo XXI, pointed out that when fertilizers began to be used, their effectiveness was 80 to 90 percent at the national level and, as there were healthy soils, there was greater efficiency, but not anymore. Biofertilizers help “significantly decrease the use of the chemical. Its total elimination is not considered, but the efficiency of that 20 percent can be raised to 80 percent when the chemical is related to bio-inputs ”.
He explained that biofertilizers are made with microorganisms that have a positive effect on the plant, help to solubilize nutrients and fix nitrogen in the atmosphere, which they transform into ammonia – the way it is used – and that fusion can be done by microorganisms . He also pointed out that there are cases where chemical fertilization can be eliminated up to 70 percent with increased yields.
Meanwhile, 40 representatives of cooperatives, small companies, consultancies and producers of bio-inputs from 17 entities that participated in the first National Congress of Producers of Bio-inputs of organic and regenerative production, held on October 15 and 16, agreed in their resolutions to ask the federal government that in the fertilizer distribution program at least 50 percent are biofertilizers.
They added that forceful action is required from the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources to stop the use of pesticides banned in other countries, “in the same way that Cofepris suspends the registrations of such products.” They also asked to open the credit program at a preferential rate to all producers who commit to the use of bio-inputs and to eliminate pesticides.
“We express ourselves in a special way to contain the use of pesticides in aquifer recharge zones, in vulnerable basins and in surface bodies of water, for which we propose that they include us in the basin councils.”
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