Castagnito d’Alba (Italy) – To promote the International Year of Plant Health declared by the United Nations, SAGEA Group organized the first edition of the National Biostimulants Meeting (#MNB2020) that took place in Alba (Piedmont, Italy) on 16 October 2020.
The event, carried out in collaboration with Federchimica – Assofertilizzanti (National Association of Fertilizer Manufacturers), focused on the new European Regulation 2019/1009, that will be applied starting from July 2022. SAGEA Group participates with its experts at the CEN/TC455 Plant Biostimulants, Working Groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 for the standardization request.
“The work of the Plant Biostimulants Working Groups is at an advanced stage and we are discussing the latest details of the protocols and guidelines to be used in field trials to generate official data for the registration of the biostimulants. These requirements will be mandatory starting from July 2022, but we can already work generating data that will be used for registration purposes as soon as the future Regulation 2019/1009 will enters into force. SAGEA Group is ready to support companies in the development of their products starting from preliminary studies in growth chambers and greenhouses, to registration trials in protected conditions or open field crops”, said Davide Ferrari, Regional Director of SAGEA Group.
“After the important steps forward with the Circular Economy package, companies in the sector will have to start a new and virtuous path to face the challenges posed by the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies” – commented Lorenzo Gallo, President of Specialistic Fertilizers Group at Federchimica – Assofertilizzanti. “With the Green Deal, which gives rise to these two strategies – continues Gallo – biostimulant manufacturers will be engaged on the development of even more sustainable products and, at the same time, will be able to promote the nutritional processes of crops. I’m sure that with the application of the new Regulation 2019/1009, which includes biostimulants in the large fertilizers family, we will be able to face this new and important challenges with responsibility”.
“Strict quality control of products is now essential, especially from a global market perspective. Every effort is therefore needed, not only to make appropriate trial methods available to the laboratories responsible for these checks, but also to provide them with tools to facilitate their correct application. UNICHIM has long been engaged in this front, with numerous interlaboratory trials involving a large part of the national network of private, public and corporate laboratories”, said Giovanni Perego, UNICHIM Director.
“Biostimulants are emerging from a phase that we could call ‘pioneering’: the interest of the multinationals is constantly growing and the market is experiencing a strong expansion that in the coming years will lead it to double its turnover. It is now necessary to define the regulatory frameworks and, consequently, commodities and economic activity. A technical scientific validation of the products is also essential, to avoid confusion with other products and to reach more traditional market areas, in particular in the agricultural sectors with high profitability per hectare” said Dario Frisio, Professor at the University of Milan.
“The development of healthy and quality agriculture, respectful of the environment and based on an ecology that uses and transforms the already perfect resources present in nature and -enhances those under-used, is a prerequisite for guaranteeing healthy plant resources for food, based on sustainable ecosystems. The publication of the new EU Reg. 2019/1009 is part of this context. SAGEA Group, as evidence of its long-standing commitment to research, development and registration of new products in agriculture, is participating in four of the five Working Groups created within CEN (European Committee for Standardization). This is why we are proud to have organized this event in collaboration with Federchimica – Assofertilizzanti, to provide an update to everyone on the status of the new European Regulation and on the working documents still in progress, illustrating the fundamental support for standardization and showing the future economic developments in this sector”, said Simonetta Gallerini, Quality Assurance Unit of SAGEA Group.
In the second part of the day, SAGEA Group opened its doors to guests that could visit the trials carried out in laboratories, growing chambers, glasshouses and open field at the headquarters of the company in Castagnito d’Alba.
Below the links to consult the single presentations (Italian language only):
Lorenzo GALLO – BIOSTIMOLANTI: LO SCENARIO ATTUALE E LE PROSPETTIVE FUTURE
Manuel Edoardo ISCERI – L’IMPORTANZA DELLA STANDARDIZZAZIONE PER I BIOSTIMOLANTI
Davide FERRARI – CLAIMS E PROVE SPERIMENTALI
Giovanni PEREGO – PROVE INTERLABORATORIO UNICHIM: UN SUPPORTO AL PROCESSO DI STANDARDIZZAZIONE EUROPEA
Dario FRISIO – SCENARI DI SVILUPPO ECONOMICO DEL SETTORE BIOSTIMOLANTI
20th October 2020
