The third BioAg World Congress will be held in Valencia, Spain in 2022 from April 26 thru 28. While the entire agriculture industry comes out of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are optimistic and excited to take advantage of new and exciting opportunities. In this same spirit, our team believes that Valencia makes an ideal location to exemplify this.
“After the stupendous success of BAW 2021, we received several city and country nomination to host BAW 2022,” says Roger Tripathi, Chairman, CEO and Founder of BioAg Linkages and BioAg Innovations. “After all the considerations and synergies, the winner was Valencia. GBAL, BAW mentors and entire BioAg industry is super excited to announce that we will celebrate Europe, a BioAg regional hub, Spain a global BioAg Country Hub, and the Valencia region.”
BLOCK YOUR CALENDARS TODAY, for this very unique program – not only by its knowledge sharing and progress landmarks, but also for its unique highlight of Spain and Europe with their BioAg leadership credentials.
Opportunities
Despite challenges, Europe’s agriculture industry proved to be resilient in the face of a pandemic. An executive summary from the EU Parliament highlighted some cases worth noting. Production and trade levels have remained stable all throughout 2020, as have food sectors according to the FAO’s Food Price Index. The summary also highlighted how the EU was able to remain highly effective at preserving the Single market’s integrity while providing aid to the agri-food sector and its workforce.
This is especially important for the fertilizer industry which, while disrupted momentarily, continued to remain strong.
“Fertilizers are closely connected to food security,” said Jacob Hansen, Director General, Fertilizers Europe. “Especially during growing season in the spring when fertilizers are primarily applied to the field. Farmers and horticulturists depend on the supply of fertilizers to grow their crops and thereby our food.”
Challenges
A unique industry, the BioAg space has some of its own unique challenges. A major one is the reliance on research and development to enhance the productivity of BioAg products. Developing this sector is important as time becomes increasingly important as regions like Europe fight to mitigate the impacts of climate change as quickly as possible.
Biostimulants and Climate Smart Agriculture
As “climate smart” agriculture continues to be a topic of much discussion for both consumers and producers. Biostimulants can be an especially important part of making this vision a reality. According to a European Biostimulants Industry Council blog post, this is because of several reasons. This includes enhancing nutrient use efficiency in plants, making agriculture more resilient to climate shocks, enhancing soil health and enhancing resource efficiency.
BioAg products are also important as science becomes more aware of the relevance and awareness of the plant microbiome. For example, 2021 research from South Korea found that algae – a common ingredient in many BioAg Products – has more beneficial effects on plants and soil within the microbiome than originally thought.
Similarly, research from China last August reinforced the importance of a healthy plant biome and the plant-microbial interaction.
Part of the Green Deal Strategy
Europe is no stranger to finding alternative ways that are not only efficient and resourceful, but also working to reduce overall environmental impact. The ambitious European Green Deal plans to make the continent the first in the world to be climate-neutral by 2050. The BioAg industry can play a notable role in this, especially with the Farm to Fork Strategy that works to build a more sustainable food system using new opportunities. Biofertilizers, for example, are a very important part of this solution in part due to their smaller carbon footprint made in their development with natural products.
European farmers have shown they are committed to making this vision of reality, and with the growth of the BioAg industry, we are able to equip them with the tools they need to do the job.
Agriculture Digitalization
Part of making a more sustainable world includes digitalization. Spain has been especially proactive in this regard. It is home to several Spanish innovators and digital agtech startups. Notably, Datagri 2021 will be held in Lleida with the goal of discussing the digital trends happening in agriculture and how they can accelerate the innovative and technological processes moving forward.
Spain’s Challenges as Produce Supplier
While the country is foreword thinking, Spain still faces challenges down the road. According to ABC, Spain exports 60% of its fruits and vegetables. One of the issues they face is that their position as export leaders will not be sustainable based on current prices. They require more ways to add value to their produce that will be still result in food that is sustainably grown and distributed.
These topics and others we hope to discuss as we meet with professionals and companies throughout the BioAg sector in Valencia, April 26 thru 28, 2022.