"AgriBest system activates plant metabolism to make it more efficient"

The competition has over thirty sponsors, including the financial group Banamex, GreenMomentum-Cleantech for Latin America, City Express Hotels, the Interactive Museum of Economics (MIDE), Nestlé, Aeroméxico and Módulo Solar.

According to the general director of Tecnologías AgriBest, M. C. Obed Mayoral Fernández, the company is devoted to developing innovations in biotechnology for crop nutrition and protection. "We based our work on bacterial strains and entomopathogenic fungi, but we have another division focused on research and technological development of botanical extracts, i.e., we extract active compounds of some plants from specific regions to formulate products with bioestimulant or biopesticide effects," he explains. 

Thanks to the combination of the three elements, the company has created a biotechnology system called "AgriBest system", which can be adapted to the specific needs of each crop. According to the general director, each of the system's components is applied as the plant grows, in order to activate each of its metabolic functions, which results in a more productive plant.

The AgriBest system has two main effects: it reduces the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and improves plant productivity. "We have seventy systems for Mexico's major crops and we are working with two groups of crops: on the one hand, grains, such as corn, beans or wheat, and on the other hand, vegetables and fruits for export, such as berries, avocados or mangoes," explains Mayoral.

Mayoral stresses that this is a sustainable system. "Its components do not have an impact on the environment or on human health. Not all growers in the world seek these things, some only pursue profitability, but when we work with the producers and they see that our system is profitable as well as sustainable, they start looking at it with new eyes." Mayoral believes that when farmers hear the word "sustainability", they assume it will be expensive, but this system can prove that it is a viable business.

According to the general director, the AgriBest system outperforms the competition for two reasons. "On the one hand, it is customised to meet the crop's needs to achieve greater efficiency, and on the other hand, we present it as a comprehensive solution, so producers do not consider it as difficult and, as long as they follow the instructions on how to apply each of the six or seven components, the results are guaranteed."

"Our system is fully versatile and we work with small, medium or even large producers. This technology can be applied to crops of any size, at any stage and together with any type of technology they may already have. That is, it works with rain fed, irrigated and even hydroponic crops. The principle is the same: activating the plant's metabolism to make it more efficient," sums up Mayoral.

The company is based in the heart of the country, near Mexico City, "but what matters most is that we are less than 2 kilometres from the Autonomous University Chapingo, and the Colegio de Postgraduados, which are two of the country's most important agricultural institutions and with which we have signed agreements to develop technology." Thus, AgriBest can develop systems and products for a particular crop, or even to tackle a specific problem in any region.