The company Agrícola General del Sureste (AGS), directed by agronomist Joaquín Ignacio Martínez Moreno, is betting on the use of ozone for disinfection in citrus and is becoming a pioneer in this area in the Region of Murcia and Castile-La Mancha.
As explained by Joaquín Ignacio Martínez Moreno, Managing Director of AGS, "we have been working with the soil disinfection system with ozone for two years. Last year, we carried out more than sixteen disinfections in the whole province of Murcia, and this year we have done seventeen up until April, which means that interest is growing and there is great potential."
"It is a biological system for soil disinfection. Until now, there were only chemical systems and solarization, which was the only ecological method, but plastic, fertilizers and water were used to maintain the heat during disinfection. Chemical systems also required the use of plastics, to prevent disinfecting vapours from getting out. But both systems had to be in place a month, forty-five days or two months before the planting, because they cannot be used with already established crops, such as citrus, vineyards, olives and almonds.
"This new 100% environmentally-friendly system has been authorised by both the United States and the European Union for use in organic farming agriculture. It can also be used in irrigation heads and facilities, which is the biggest advantage compared to other systems," says the head of AGS.
"With this system, ozone is injected into the irrigation system, regardless of whether it is drip irrigation or sprinkler irrigation, and once the ozone is injected into the soil, it kills all the microorganisms. We are talking about fungi, bacteria and nematodes. After twenty-four hours, we inoculate live microorganisms provided by the same supplier as the ozone. These help regenerate that soil and prevent pathogens from re-entering quickly. That is to say, we reset the soil," says Joaquín Ignacio Martínez.
Source: murciadiario.com
