The use of biofertilisers, biopesticides and other environmentally friendly products is a growing necessity in the face of the frequent rejection of chemical products due to the harm they cause to nature and to human beings.
Roberto Salomón
Cuban agriculture today is experiencing a growing use of bioproducts in order to circumvent the insufficient availability of currency with which to acquire fertilisers and other supplies due to the US blockade and the economic crisis arising from Covid-19.
The country’s highest authorities have made frequent calls for the production and use of these products (that is, biofertilisers, biopesticides and biostimulants) to be boosted. Such products also have the advantage of being compatible with the environment. The Unión Empresarial de Base (UEB) Bioprocesses Cuba 10, which belongs to the Cuban Institute for Research on Sugarcane Derivatives (ICIDCA), has an important role in the development and production of bioproducts, according to the ICIDCA’s Commercial and Business Director, Bárbara Rodríguez.
Rodríguez also notes that with the recent launch of a plant in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, the production capacity for agricultural bioproducts increased by 15,000 litres per day.
El Grupo Empresarial Azucarero Azcuba (Azcuba Sugar Group), to which ICIDCA belongs, is now able to obtain over 20,000 litres of compounds every 24 hours since as well as the new plant, it already has a smaller one in the capital.
Both units, designed by ICIDCA, feature among the principal suppliers of bioproducts to the country’s agricultural sector.
Among the products is Gluticid, a biofungicide in powder form and biochemical in nature, which protects the sugarcane’s botanical seeds and benefits other crops.
Nitrofix® also features – a biofertilizer of nitrogenous effect and a stimulant of plant growth – along with bioenraiz® which stimulates root formation and encourages germination.
UEB Bioprocesses Cuba 10’s bioproducts plant, which is located in Mayabeque province, in the western zone, has a fermentation capacity of over 900,000 litres annually.
It was designed flexibly and is the country’s first bioproducts plant in the field of biotechnology licenced by the National Centre for Biological Security.
In addition, it is designed to scale and validate production technologies for bioproducts and to try methods of packaging, transportation and application tests on sown fields, as well as being a training and education centre for the spread of knowledge to other facilities. (PL)
(Translated by Philip Walker – Email: philipwalkertranslation@gmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay
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