EDITOR'S MESSAGE and VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Welcome to the first ever stand-alone publication for the Biostimulant World Congress (BSWC)
This e-book endeavours to provide an overview of the successful 5th edition of the Congress, which ran in Hollywood, Florida 29 Nov-2 Dec, as was as the virtual event that followed 6-7 December.
And what a time to be discussing biostimulants, particularly with fertilizer prices having climbed close to record highs during 2021 providing an opportunity for other agri-inputs, such as biostimulants and biofertilizers. This was a point picked up in our interview with Acadian
Plant Health.
We thank our e-book sponsors for making this
e-book possible, which provides an overview of the Congress so soon after the event, which can also be of benefit to the wider biological ag-input sector.
The Biostimulant World Congress provided a feast of ideas and information on this dynamic sector. This e-book does not try to encapsulate everything from the Congress – there were 92 posters on display for a start! - but there is a wealth of material within these pages.
In this e-book we have an exclusive interview with Rovensa CEO Eric Van Innis.
Thanks are due to our other sponsors, all of whom took advantage of the BSWC to communicate their latest activity:
Acadian Plant Health
AgriThority
DPH Biologicals
Intermag
Tradecorp (a Rovensa company)
The 5th BSWC in Miami provided a feel-good factor to be back as an in-person event. We hope you enjoy the e-book, and we look forward to following the scientific and commercial developments generated from this year’s event.
In the meantime, enjoy our video highlights reel on the next page.
Luke Hutson, Editor-in-Chief,
New AG International
Find out what participants thought of the 2021 Biostimulants World Congress - watch here.
*BIOSTIMULANTS WORLD CONGRESS - OVERVIEW*
Biostimulants World Congress provides feel-good factor to end 2021
The 5th Biostimulants World Congress ran as an in-person event 29 Nov-2 Dec, attracting more than 770 delegates to Florida, USA.
“We’ve had some fantastic feedback on the event, which is the fifth edition of the Congress. It was wonderful to see the biostimulants industry meet in-person and continue the work of exchanging knowledge and pushing forwards this exciting area of agriculture,” Naomi Brooker, Portfolio Director, told New AG International.
Despite the current difficulties with travel, the in-person event brought together a conference programme and exhibition. The Congress is the world’s leading scientific forum for biostimulants and featured 50+ speakers. The scientific committee, co-chaired by Professors Patrick Brown (UC, Davis) and Patrick du Jardin (University of Liège, Belgium), distilled the programme from 300 abstract submissions. Running concurrently was the commercial track featuring presentations related to business development.
New AG International, with
co-operation from EBIC, welcomed delegates from 40+ countries to the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida.
There was a scientific poster exhibition, with a total of 92 on display. The winner of the poster competition was Stefano Ambrosini, PhD student at the University of Verona, Italy, and he was awarded a cheque for $500.
There were two other awards. Valagro sponsored a Farmer Award to showcase the use of biostimulants by farmers around the world. A panel of judges came to the decision that the winner for this year’s award was Valdivia Sousa, from Agricola Famosa S/A in Brazil.
There was the Innovation Award on Day One , which went to Agri Technovation for their Picklogger tool and on Day Two it went to Verdesian Life Sciences for their biostimulant technology. Runners up included Plant di Tech and Innovak Global, with both companies receiving recognition.
New AG International, with co-operation from the European Biostimulants Industry Council ( EBIC ), welcomed delegates from 40+ countries to the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida. On the first day of the event, a workshop was held on how to market biostimulants by Mike DeSa (AGD Consulting) and Barrett Sydnor (Syndor & Associates), with assistance from Carmela Pérez Calleja and Thiago Rodrigues Pozzobon. The session, which was over-subscribed and attended by more than 40 delegates, was a new addition to the event.
EBIC shared the following reflections on the 5th BSWC:
"Despite constraints and logistical difficulties imposed by covid, the 2021 Biostimulants World Congress was an undoubted success. Everyone was delighted to meet again after two years of social distancing. The science and innovation were probably at the highest level of any of the world congresses yet. It was exciting to see the new products being launched with advanced technologies as well as the innovative approaches being taken to research and development. At the same time, Patrick Brown’s keynote reminded us how complicated the interactions are in the domain of plant nutrition and soil fertility. The science underpinning plant biostimulants and making sure that industry delivers reliable products is getting stronger every year."
A Virtual programme ran 6-7 December, and was the first time the event had a digital component. The Congress had circumvented the disruption of 2020, owing to it being a biannual event and was last held in November 2019, in Barcelona.
“We knew some of our clients would not be able to attend the live event, so we wanted to offer them an opportunity to attend virtually. We decided to run a bespoke digital programme that would also provide additional value to those delegates who attended the in-person event,” Brooker added. ●
The organisers of the BSWC are looking forward to taking the event to Portugal in 2023.
*Rovensa Group*
Exclusive interview with CEO Eric van Innis
Please can you provide a little background on your career to date. Have you always been in Agriculture?
I’ve been in the agriculture business for over 30 years, but my career started in a very different sector. Right when I left university, in the early 80’s, I worked for the repairs and maintenance office of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits in Belgium, my home country. After that, I entered the agriculture business by joining Groupe Roullier, a multinational business specializing in plant nutrition. In the early nineties, I joined SAPEC, leading their agro sector, at the root of what is ROVENSA today.
Rovensa has been building a formidable stable of companies in recent years. Perhaps you can expand on the strategy behind this, and the objective of providing sustainable solutions for plant health and nutrition?
Rovensa has always looked for opportunities to contribute to a sustainable and well-balanced agriculture. Our expansion journey in plant protection and nutrition has started in the 2000’s with two acquisitions made in Spain: Agrides in crop protection, and Tradecorp in specialty nutrients. A few years later, our work and effort had put us in a comfortable financial position to increase our international growth and invest in our product portfolio development and regulatory processes. In 2014, we acquired OGT, an Irish seaweed company to expand our biostimulants offer. In 2017, backed by Bridgepoint’s capital, we continued our expansion with the acquisition of SDP, Idai Nature and Microquimica, allowing us to enter the adjuvant, biological and biofertilizer segments, strengthening our footprint in Europe – especially in France – and in Brazil. More recently, we have been making acquisitions in biocontrol: Agrichem, Grupo Agrotecnologia, and Oro Agri, which align perfectly with our vision. More recently, to expand our offer in bionutrition, we acquired Rodel Flowers in Ecuador, which allowed us to strengthen our footprint in the flower sector and in other important local crops. The combined regulatory and intellectual property skills of these Rovensa companies, together with their customer-oriented, technical go-to-market strategy, enable us to be a worldwide partner, providing sustainable solutions to meet the needs of local farmers. With agricultural solutions sold over 80 countries worldwide, our Group offers now a complementary portfolio of innovative solutions for plant health & care. From our more than 25 R&D Experimental Centers and Laboratories across the world, and our more than 800 field support professionals, we are working closely with farmers to help them to do more with fewer resources.
What is your vision for Rovensa in the coming years, and where do you plan to grow the company?
We are embedding sustainability in our business strategy. Our vision is to be a worldwide reference by providing innovative and sustainable solutions for plant health & care. We aim to contribute to a sustainable agriculture, that is both productive and regenerative. In the coming years, we intend to boost our nature-based solutions (bio solutions), which can allow an efficient use of natural resources exploitation (such as water, land, and nutrients) and have a positive impact on nature (soil health, biodiversity and carbon sequestration). We will continue to develop agricultural solutions which preserve and enhance soil and environmental health, guaranteeing safe and healthy food for all. We are developing more biological solutions based on natural extracts, microorganisms, and biodegradable products, giving back to nature what nature provides us.
We aim to offer an increasing complementary portfolio of low-risk solutions for plant health, such as natural, biological, and low or zero residue biocontrol solutions, as well as specialty crop nutrition, biostimulants, inoculants and adjuvants for plant’s growth and healthy development, enhancing quality and yield.
And at the heart of these plans is sustainability. Please elaborate on what that means at Rovensa – for example, I know you are using renewable energy to power some of your production plants.
Our sustainability journey has been going on for some time now, right when we defined the concept of Well Balanced Agriculture. We are aware that an increasing world population and the limited resources of the planet, alongside with climate change, demand a sustainable agriculture model. Our focus at this point is to create innovative solutions that help farmers produce more with less, ensuring healthy, safe and nutritious food for everyone. Of course, creating more sustainable solutions also involve having sustainable operations and implementing the best practices in our factories in terms of water, waste, and carbon emissions management, which is why we are, for example, investing in renewable energy to power our plants and one of our companies decided to only use PEFC certified pallets in its operations.
We are taking action towards a more sustainable future, and we are currently working on the development of our sustainability strategy, positioning ESG topics at the core of our business and reflecting on how our business can deliver long-term positive impact for all our stakeholders. Based on this strategy, we are working on the Group’s Net Zero roadmap which encompasses a reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions, and at the same time assume our accountability to support farmers to adopt the best solutions to improve plant and soil health, which will in turn improve its ability to sequester carbon.
At the moment, we are issuing our second annual ESG report to disclose with clarity and transparency the key performance indicators and initiatives that we implement across our Group to drive a positive impact on the planet.
Many Rovensa companies export to markets around the world – which markets are you looking to increase the company’s presence? (Such as the USA)
Our most recent acquisitions have enabled the Group’s entrance into new strategic markets such as the US, Oceania, and South Africa, also reinforcing our footprint in markets such as Brazil, India and China.
Biostimulants are obviously fundamental to Rovensa, in the form of Tradecorp, which has been a benchmark company for many years. How do you see Tradecorp’s role in the future of the biostimulants industry?
Climate change has become a priority problem that is influencing agricultural production worldwide, increasing stresses on crops. We are committed to help to increase global food production until 2050, contributing towards our mission of feeding the planet. Tradecorp is providing solutions to help growers to produce more with less inputs, providing produce according to consumers, retailers and food industry demand in terms of quality, quantity and sustainability. Our wide experience in research and development offers breakthrough solutions that enhance plant’s health and development, driving quality and yield. Tradecorp’s Biostimulation 360° programme has a huge range of Global Premium Biostimulants that offers sustainable and innovative solutions, targeting specific problems growers face at each stage of crop growth. It is the case of Biimore, the last addition and an Ultra-Efficient Biostimulant obtained from an exclusive and sustainable plant fermentation process considered to be a major breakthrough in biostimulants compared to other products on
the market. ●
For more information, please contact: ROVENSA
Eric van Innis, CEO,
Rovensa Group
Rovensa has always looked for opportunities to contribute to a sustainable and well-balanced agriculture
Eric van Innis
Jorge Aguilar, Tradecorp's Marketing Director, spoke to New AG International at the Biostimulants World Congress in Florida, sharing a view on the biostimulants market and Tradecorp's new product Biimore.
