New AG International talks to Hubert Kardasz, CEO, Intermag
To begin, please can you give us an overview of your company and little about the history of Intermag? INTERMAG was founded in 1988. From the very beginning the company was focused on increasing farming productivity by providing innovative solutions dedicated to advanced crop nutrition and biostimulation. INTERMAG was the first fertilizer company in Central and Eastern Europe, which implemented the production of micronutrient chelates in the early 90’s. The company started to develop products described as biostimulants in the times when the word “plant biostimulant” was not even created and used in agriculture. The first biostimulant TYTANIT, based on titanium organic compound, was developed in the 1990s and until now is INTERMAG flagship product, sold in more than 30 countries worldwide. Additionally, INTERMAG was one of the first companies, which introduced silicon products to the agricultural practice. The first silicon products, based on potassium silicates, were introduced 20 years ago. In 2014 INTERMAG launched OPTYSIL, a biostimulant based on plant available form of silicon, with unique properties such as high content of silicon, neutral pH or excellent compatibility with agrochemicals. Thanks to those properties OPTYSIL is considered to be the number one among silicon biostimulants on many markets. The effectiveness of INTERMAG biostimulants has been confirmed by numerous trials carried out on various types of crops and in various climate conditions. Since 2014 INTERMAG has been developing products based on beneficial bacteria under the brand BACTIM. Currently, we offer products, which improve soil fertility by increasing content of plant available forms of nutrients, increasing content of organic carbon and improving soil health status. In the nearest future our offer will be extended to include bioproducts containing nitrogen fixing bacteria and having biocontrol properties.
Do you manufacture your own products? What products do you export? To how many markets around the globe? We manufacture 95% of the products that we offer. We have three production plants located in Poland. Two of them are dedicated to the production of specialty fertilizers and biostimulants, and one of them is dedicated to the production of biosolutions based on bacteria. Export accounts for 60% of our sales. We export to more than 45 countries in Europe, Asia, North and South America and Africa. The following products are the most popular on our export markets: 1) Biostimulants based on beneficial elements: TYTANIT, OPTYSIL, 2) Micronutrient fertilizers: AMINO ULTRA line and MIKROCHELAT line 3) Foliar fertilizers dedicated to the specific crops – PLONVIT line 4) Microbial biosolutions – BACTIM line
What are some of the trends you are seeing in the biostimulants market at present? We notice that some categories of biostimulants such as humic substances, amnio acids or seaweed extracts tend to become commodity-type products with huge international competition and very low margin at the distribution level. On the other hand, there are a lot innovations in the product category described as biostimulants. In my opinion, products based on microbes and plant extracts are the most promising categories. The border line between biocontrol and biostimulant categories is getting blurred. Some biostimulants contribute to increase plant immunity against biotic stresses. On the other hand, some biocontrol products also demonstrate growth stimulating properties. In my opinion, regulation in most of the countries do no catch up with the market trends. The latest trends show that biostimulants do not only focus on the yield increase but also on the other benefits such as environmental sustainability, food quality, and even healthy issues of humans and plants. An excellent example of the last claim is plant biofortification with the substances beneficial for human health, such as iodine and selenium.
What product or products have you recently added to your portfolio, and why? PLANTCINE is our immunity booster, which contains natural plant substances. The product stimulates natural plant immune system to produce defence proteins, induces defence response and prepares plants for pathogen attack. It is safe for plants and environment. PLANTICINE is the response to the growing pressure of limiting pesticide residues. Thanks to the product application, farmers are able to reduce the number of pesticide treatments and at the end produce more healthy food. Additionally, PLANTICINE demonstrates growth stimulating properties, especially when applied at the early stages of plant development. JOSEK is a product aimed at biofortification of plants with beneficial elements, iodine and selenium in plant available forms. Plants fortified with JOSEK can be the best and safest source of iodine and selenium, which are the elements critical for the heath of humans and animals. AMINO ULTRA CEREALS is our latest product based on GCAA technology. The fertilizer quickly and efficiently provides plants with micronutrients in a proportion adjusted to the nutritional requirements of cereals. Our research proved very quick and easy uptake of nutrients by plants, which resulted in better plant nutritional status. BACTIM NITRO+ and BACTIM GRAN+ are microbial additives to the granular and liquid NPK fertilizers, which increase efficacy of fertilization by improving nutrient uptake and nutrient conservation in the soil. Those technologies are dedicated to be utilized by fertilizer producers.
And finally, what was one of your take-aways, or something that you learned, from the Biostimulants World Congress? It was good to meet face to face with our partners. The Congress is an excellent opportunity to initiate new business relationships and strengthen the existing ones. It is also an excellent opportunity for both business and science to meet at the same place and exchange ideas. Congress helps to better understand the current market trends and changes in the regulation. Congress proved that biostimulant industry is very vibrant, competitive and fast growing. At the BSWC, Anna Konieczny - International Marketing Manager for Intermag gave an excellent presentation on ‘How to turn beneficial elements into effective biostimulants?’ Please can you give us some of the key messages from the presentation. Why did you choose that topic? INTERMAG is a worldwide leader in manufacturing and launching biostimulants based on beneficial elements in plant available forms. The first biostimulant based on titanium was launched by INTERMAG in the 1990s. Since then, INTERMAG portfolio has been expanded to include products based on silicon, vanadium, iodine and selenium. Currently, INTERMAG biostimulants based on beneficial elements are present in about 45 markets worldwide. Beneficial elements are not essential for plants, but applied at low concentrations they positively affect plant growth and development as well as their tolerance to stress factors, which results in higher yield and better yield quality. To be effective in agricultural practice beneficial elements must be provided in forms, which are plant available, stable in wide range of pH, and compatible with agrochemicals.
Diligently selected forms in which beneficial elements are present in the products, biological and molecular studies explaining and describing products’ mode of action and numerus laboratory experiments and field trials confirming the effectiveness of the products are the key to the INTERMAG worldwide success.
Hubert Kardasz, CEO, INTERMAG
Anna Konieczny, International Marketing Manager, INTERMAG
International Marketing Manager Anna Konieczny spoke to New AG International at the Biostimulants World Congress highlighting the latest products based on beneficial elements and research from INTERMAG.
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