The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has highlighted the key role that biostimulants can play in developing more sustainable, productive and profitable agriculture. Planas visited the technological plant for experimenting with microalgae at Madrid-Barajas airport belonging to Algaenergy, a biotechnology company that uses microalgae as biostimulants for agricultural crops.

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Biostimulants are key to more sustainable,

Biostimulants are substances or microorganisms that activate natural processes that accelerate the assimilation of nutrients, improve the agronomic conditions of the soil and protect crops from stress. Their use, the minister stressed, can facilitate the adaptation of soils and agricultural crops to climate change, make them more resistant to drought situations and favour carbon sequestration.

Algaenergy is dedicated to the research, cultivation, production and commercialisation of microalgae biomass and derived compounds for use as biostimulants. The company acts as a representative entity of the Microclimate operational group, which was awarded one of the innovation grants awarded by the ministry in 2020 within the national rural development programme 2014-2022 and framed within the initiative of the European Association for Innovation in Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (AEI-Agri). The funded trial specifically addresses the use of biostimulants derived from microalgae in tomato and wheat crops.

In addition to its application in agriculture, Algaenergy’s microalgae production is also used in other areas related to the ministry’s competencies. In aquaculture, for example, with the development of fish larvae feed, or in food, with the production of supplements with a high nutritional value due to their high protein content.