Evonik has opened its new Applied Technology Center (ATC) in Americana,Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Combining new laboratories, access to two pilot plants, and infrastructure to support customer training, the new “Agro Hub” strengthens its Interface & Performance business line’s support and testing capabilities for its agriculture market customers in the region.
Interface & Performance’s agro business offers additives and adjuvants for conventional and biological agrochemical formulations under its BREAK-THRU brand. The portfolio of antifoams, dispersants, emulsifiers, oil enhancers, wetting agents, super-spreaders and penetrants also includes biocompatible productsfor crop protection and seed treatments.
In the ATC, the agricultural team develops additives for biopesticides and bioinoculants for its customers in the region.
The new Brazil ATC is Evonik’s third regional “Agro Hub” after Marl in Germany, and Richmond in the U.S. Divided into three separate areas, the labs at the ATC include one for conventional adjuvants formulations, one for seed treatment using both conventional and biological active ingredients, and a microbiology lab for developing biological formulations using bacteria, fungi, and botanical extracts.
Evonik has entered a technological cooperation agreement with the AgTech Garage innovation centre in the Piracicaba Technology Park, in the state of São Paulo. The new partnership will promote Evonik's agribusiness capabilities and help to leverage its innovation in the area through better connections to the regional agribusiness ecosystem.
“We are committed to developing innovative and sustainable solutions for the South American agricultural market. This partnership with AgTech Garage will help us to strongly connect with large companies and startups to promote and develop new technologies for the agricultural industry through open innovation,” said Diego Abreu, global marketing head of Evonik Interface & Performance's agricultural market segment.
AgTech Garage is an innovation hub specializing in agrobusiness, promoting initiatives that connects startups, producers, investors, academics, scientists and other stakeholders to develop technological solutions. With established partnerships and the support of companies, AgTech Garage’s network provides an innovation dynamic: open, connected, collaborative and agile.
Evonik's Interface & Performance agribusiness offers additives and adjuvants for conventional and biological agrochemical formulations under its BREAK-THRU brand. The portfolio of defoamers, dispersants, emulsifiers, oil enhancers, wetting agents, super-spreaders and penetrants also includes biocompatible productsfor crop protection and seed treatments.
(Photo from left to right: Diego Abreu, Mariano Correa and Lilian Correia, all with Evonik Interface & Performance; Letícia Oliveira, community manager, AgTech Garage; José Tomé, CEO, AgTech Garage)
Evonik recently opened its latest Agro Hub at its Applied Technology Center (ATC) in Americana, São Paulo. The new space combines modern laboratories, access to two pilot plants and infrastructure to conduct customer trainings. On site, the Interface & Performance laboratories are divided into three
areas, including one for conventional adjuvant formulations, one for seed treatment using conventional and biological active ingredients, and a microbiology laboratory for the development of biological formulations using bacteria, fungi and botanical extracts. ●
Applied Technology Center (ATC), Americana, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
A research team affiliated with the Laboratory of Polymeric Materials and Biosorbents at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in Araras, São Paulo state, Brazil, has produced and is testing cellulose-based materials for enhanced-efficiency fertilizers to improve the supply of nutrients to crops and reduce the release of non-biodegradable chemicals into the ecosystem.
The studies were funded by FAPESP and led by Roselena Faez, a professor at the Center for Agricultural Sciences (CCA-UFSCar). FAPESP – the São Paulo Research Foundation (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) – is a public foundation, funded by the taxpayer in the State of São Paulo, with the mission to support research projects in higher education and research institutions, in all fieldsof knowledge.
In an article published in Carbohydrate Polymers, researchers describe how they used modified nanocellulose to discharge the nutrients contained in fertilizer into the soil slowly and in a controlled manner, given that nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are highly soluble.
Controlled-release products are available on the market, but most are made of synthetic polymers, which are non-biodegradable. The researchers at UFSCar developed an entirely different product in which the chemical reaction between the modified nanocellulose and mineral salts keeps the nutrients in the soil. “We focused on the worst problems, which are nitrate and potassium. The material we developed is totally biodegradable and releases these nutrients at about the same slow rate as the available synthetic materials,” Faez said.
The nanocellulose was obtained from pure cellulose donated by a paper factory. The nanofibrils were functionalized with positive and negative charges to enhance polymer-nutrient interaction. “Because the salts are also made up of positively or negatively charged particles and highly soluble, we hypothesized that negatively charged nanocellulose would react with positive ions in the salts, while positively charged nanocellulose would interact with negative ions, reducing the solubility of the salts. This proved to be the case, and the group succeeded in modulating nutrient release in accordance with the type of particle in the material,” noted Débora França, first author of the study.
The group fabricated the product in the form of tablets and evaluated its performance in terms of nutrient release into the soil. Evaluation of release into water is the usual method, and water is a very different system from soil. This part of the research was conducted in partnership with Claudinei Fonseca Souza, a professor at CCA-UFSCar’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protectionin Araras.
“We evaluated nutrient release into the soil and biodegradation of the material at the site for 100 days. But we deliberately used very poor soil with little organic matter, because this enables us to see the physical effects of release more easily,” Faez said.
The researchers used two techniques to obtain tablets: atomization and spray drying to encapsulate the nutrients with the nanocellulose, followed by heat processing of the resulting powder, which was pressed in a mold. This work was completed with the help of colleagues at the Cellulose and Wood Materials Laboratory belonging to EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science
and Technology) and in collaboration with UFSCar’s Water, Soil and Environment Engineering Research Group, led by Souza. França performed the cellulose modifications at EMPA while on an internship there with support from FAPESP.
A second article by the group was published in Industrial Crops and Products, with chemist Lucas Luiz Messa as first author. The goal of the study was to extract cellulose from sugarcane bagasse and modify it with a surface negative charge by phosphorylation (addition of a phosphorus group) to allow controlled release of potassium. In theory, delivery of plant nutrition would be slowed by cellulose phosphorylation, which would create surface anionic charges that would bind to macronutrient and micronutrient cations.
The group prepared three types of structure with the phosphorylated cellulose: oven-dried paper-like film; spray-dried powder; and freeze-dried porous bulk similar to polystyrene foam. Freeze drying, or lyophilization, was seen to leave nutrients in the voids left bywater removal.
“Technologically speaking, the paper-like structure was the best material we produced for controlled delivery of nutrients. Several products can be created using this paper,” Faez said. The group was able to develop small propagation pots for seedling cultivation. When this material degrades, the phosphorus it contains is released.
Biodegradable propagation pots are already available on the market. “But our product has built-in fertilizer, which is a major competitive
advantage. Indeed, we’ve filed a patent application,” noted Faez. The pot is about to be trialed by a flower producer in Holambra, São Paulo state. ●
The first and third photos show the paper made from phosphorylated sugarcane cellulose. The second shows the 3D structure of the material comprising cellulose and nutrient. The fourth shows the microparticles in powder form and after molding into tablets. (Lucas Luiz Messa/Débora França)
Tradecorp Brazil, a Rovensa Group company, has invested more than USD$1 million in a new Global Biosolutions Research and Innovation Center, located in Hortolândia (São Paulo State), Brazil.
The company’s first innovation center in Brazil aims to develop new biosolutions for the country and other international markets where Rovensa Group operates. The first of its kind for Rovensa Group outside of Europe, this Global Research and Innovation Biosolutions Center was created in Brazil based on the substantial growth that the country’s agricultural sector has seen in the last 10 years.
Aligned with the objectives set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, the research at this new center 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.
As it is located in Brazil, the center will begin its research to address local challenges for farmers within the country, but the solutions will be applicable to other markets around the world.
The new center will be led by a multidisciplinary team under the management of Dr. Johana Rincones Pérez, allowing for multiple projects to be developed simultaneously. In the laboratory, the fermentation processes, based on fungi and bacteria, will be carried out with prototypes being produced and evaluated in a greenhouse or field. At the same time, results of chemical bioanalysis and molecular biology of the microorganisms involved will be evaluated and tested in model plants.
The announcement comes on the heels of the recent opening of the Joint Research Unit in Madrid, Spain in April of this year, when Tradecorp International launched Biological Solutions for Sustainable Agriculture. ●
Nutrien Ltd. has entered into an agreement to acquire Brazilian company Casa do Adubo S.A. (Casa do Adubo).
The acquisition includes 39 retail locations, under the brand Casa do Adubo, and 10 distribution centres, under the brand Agrodistribuidor Casal, in the states of Acre, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Pará, Rio de Janeiro, Rondônia, São Paulo and Tocantins.
The acquisition of Casa do Adubo is expected to result in additional run-rate sales of approximately USD$400 million, increasing total Nutrien Ag Solutions annual sales in Latin America to approximately $2.2 billion. Upon completion of the acquisition of Casa do Adubo, Nutrien expects to surpass its stated target of $100 million of adjusted EBITDA in Brazil by 2023.
The transaction is pending approval from the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) in Brazil. Subject to approval and completion of the acquisition, Nutrien will have 180 commercial units in Latin America, including customer-facing retail branches and experience centres, five industrial plants and four fertilizer blenders. In addition, Nutrien will have more than 3,500 employees in the region, including more than 700 crop consultants serving growers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. ●
