In the current reality, a decrease in crop yield due to lower soil quality; for access to water with a high level of boron; from crops experiencing drought windows; or extreme temperatures throughout the year, the negative impacts of these environmental conditions could be reversed by adapting a customized microbial combination, which is incorporated directly into the seed of the crop.

We spoke with Gonzalo Fuenzalida, director and researcher of Andes Crop Science, who argues that with microbial technology applied to agriculture, an exponential increase in yield and tolerance can be achieved against high levels of salt and minerals. It claims that the crop can cope with drought and extreme temperatures and is more resistant to pathogens, among some of the factors that can be addressed with this microbial technology.

“We design the formulation of bacteria that the plant will have inside its seed and we do this so that when the plant germinates and begins its development, its growth, these bacteria begin to converse with the plant, giving it unique capabilities. Making it a better plant. That you have the ability to develop to your full potential. Regardless of the conditions in which it grows. This is what we do ”, explains the researcher.

Blueberries

Gonzalo Fuenzalida relates that to make the selection of bacteria they are first isolated, clarifying that they are natural bacteria collected from different parts of the world. "They are not modified, they are natural," he emphasizes. Then, to meet the big challenge and understand which bacteria have to go with which plant, a selection program based on artificial intelligence technology is used.

Can this technology be applied to the fruit industry?

• Yes, there is evidence, mainly literature. Trials have been carried out where these bacteria have been shown to have a positive effect on the development of fruit trees, both in the ability to grow under adverse conditions and in promoting the production of a greater number of fruits. In a few months we are going to start a pilot work with Pedro Daire, a very innovative blueberry producer who is producing blueberries in La Serena, which is not very common, and which has been very successful in bringing the season forward with a very good fruit quality.

Soil improvement

"Traditionally, the idea was explored of making plants grow in arid places, with bad lands, such as mining tailings, and that in some way these plants had the capacity to fix the soils," explains the executive of Andes and recounts that after that Science evolved to focus on problems related to agriculture and food production. "So we made the decision why not bring this technology that works so well in laboratories, to industry, to the field, trying to solve a lot of problems for producers," he says.

We are no longer talking about soil improvement, but about plants ...

• Exactly, but as a derivative. Because when these plants begin to grow, in these bad soils, the plant begins to absorb these heavy minerals producing the soil improvement effect, because the plant ends up extracting the minerals from the soil.

"Andes was born as a company for agriculture and we focus on bacteria, specifically we work with bacteria that can live inside the plant, in the seed," he clarifies.

Is climate change a variable that you consider?

• When one sees that there are two major battle fronts in agriculture, which is dealing with abuse in the use of chemicals, hydrogenated fertilizers and pesticides, it is desirable to be able to use fewer hydrogenated fertilizers and pesticides, since we know today the side effects that this has. type of chemicals. The other major area facing agricultural production is the effect of climate change that affects the production of different types of crops, even to the point of moving them to areas where it was previously not suitable to grow these species.

Water

Gonzalo Fuenzalida warns that due to the drought, producers have had to go looking for deeper and deeper water. "The problem with drilling deep wells is that eventually you will find water, but that water as you drill deeper turns into water that has more and more salt content, and the sodium chloride that makes up the salt it has tremendous negative effects on plant performance. ” He assures that with microbial technology they have conferred tolerance to plants to be able to withstand levels of salts up to 1/3 of what is seawater. He also shares that they have also taken over water stress in terms of drought. "We have the ability through microbial technology to confer tolerance on the plant so that it can endure and grow to its full potential with reduced water levels, and that is tremendously desirable. You can reduce water use by up to 50% using plants that have this microbial technology built in, ”he says.

How is this technology applied?

• Traditionally, applications of microbial technology have been made at planting time. There are certain species that at the beginning of their growth start in nurseries, with seedlings, then one treated the place with a microbial mixture. The peat was moistened with this microbial mixture and the seed was placed. The same when other techniques were used, for example: coating the seed with the bacteria in a lyophilized, dry state, but which are active. What we did was develop the technology within the seed. We modify the seed by changing the composition of bacteria that are inside it and that has shown us tremendously extraordinary results in terms of effectiveness and the time that the technology incorporated into the seed lasts. So what the customer receives is the seed that already incorporates this ability to tolerate certain stressful conditions.

The executive confesses that the greatest professional and company achievement has been to observe on the ground the materialization of what has been investigated by science, "which is the most important thing, because the great challenge of this microbial technology is to replicate what one sees in the field laboratories, that is the most difficult ”, he ends.