Our leading role in Research & Innovation to develop new, better sustainable solutions
15 Nov
Corporate news
All industries innovate. It’s necessary to keep up with the changing needs of consumers due to new technologies or scientific discoveries, or simply due to trends and preferences. In the agricultural industry, we’re no different. Our world is experiencing new changes and challenges every year due to climate change, diminishing natural resources and a growing population, so we dedicate ourselves to research and innovation to protect and nourish crops while minimizing agriculture’s environmental footprint, supporting those who are feeding our world in their mission, while doing it sustainably.
Strategic Collaboration and Partnerships
The answers to global challenges can only be solved through a collective effort. One of the key parts of our innovation strategy is to work with likeminded partners in the industry, who share our vision to create a more sustainable future for agriculture. At the moment, Tradecorp collaborates with more than 20 research centers and universities around the world.
One of the most significant projects to materialize from our partnerships is Biotool, created in collaboration with Italian research center Landlab as part of the Eurostars initiative, to tackle the industry-wide concern of water as a readily available resource. Biotool is designed to measure the effect of biostimulants on plants and improve crop yields through efficient water management. Thanks to the Biotool Platform, growers can increase production quality, boost yields and reduce economic losses caused by different types of abiotic stresses, based on water stress as a model.
The teams are currently evaluating the performance of the new range of Biotool biostimulants with Curactive effect, with the goal of bringing a quality and effective product to market in the future.
Research Centers of Excellence
In addition to working collaboratively with the industry, having dedicated research and innovation centers is essential to our work. These centers allow us to devote time and resources to finding new and even more sustainable ways to help farmers’ crops survive and thrive in terms of yield and quality parameters, while also contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In Madrid in April of this year, we launched Biological Solutions for Sustainable Agriculture, a Joint Research Unit located in Madrid, alongside our partner, the Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics (CBGP) of the Polytechnic University of Madrid and Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), part of the Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) – (UPM-INIA/CSIC). We chose to launch this in Madrid, not only because it is where our headquarters are located, but because Spain is a benchmark country in agricultural and plant biotechnology research.
The project is already underway with three lines of research based on the search for microbial biosolutions with biostimulant potential. Trials are being carried out both in vitro and in greenhouse with several crops to investigate the biostimulant effect of the microorganisms in agronomic trials as well as to find out the mode of action. Thanks to the use of different technologies, Tradecorp can identify the innovative microorganisms, as well as learn the metabolic pathways that are affected after their application in plants, providing high-level scientific knowledge to the company and main stakeholders, to finally reach the field. Research is ongoing and we expect to have effective biosolutions very soon.
More recently, Tradecorp Brazil launched a new Global Biosolutions Research and Innovation Center that will serve as an accelerator to develop innovative biosolutions for Brazil and other international markets. We chose Brazil as our first location for a center of this kind outside of Europe because the agricultural industry in Brazil has seen incredible growth over the last decade and represents a new frontier in sustainable agriculture. Like the projects conducted at our center in Madrid, the Brazil research team will focus on biological and sustainable solutions that can improve the efficiency of nutrient and water use, quality of crops, and the quality and life of soil using microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria. The center is beginning its research to address local challenges for farmers within the country, but the solutions will be applicable to other markets around the world.
Research, Innovation and Testing to Develop New and Improved Methods
The R&D department is one of the strategic axes established in the Rovensa Group’s growth policy. And as a central part of our mission to create a more sustainable agriculture, we know that investing in Research & Development is essential. This includes time, experienced and specialized staff, and monetary resources. Our work promotes research and development always with the aim of innovating and accelerating revolution in the agricultural sector, to achieve a competitive agriculture that produces more, with fewer resources and less environmental impact.
