In protected agriculture, Mexico is now a world power: the country has 57,000 hectares in operation, of which 27,000 are vegetables, 29,000 are berries, and the rest is split among ornamental operations, flowers, and nurseries.
During our participation in Expo Agroalimentaria Guanajuato 2019, I was pleasantly surprised by the enormous interest that growers and attendees showed in soilless agriculture #SoilFree. In particular, there is strong interest among traditional growers in migrating to technology packages as they strive to keep up with the demands of international markets. The goal is to move from traditional crops such as sorghum, wheat, and corn to high-value export crops. Growers are ready to make the change, and they are especially interested in hydroponics.
For our participation in Agroalimentaria 2019, we had the support of Eng. Raúl Mercado Mexía, technical advisor to DIDIHU® and a grower with more than 40 years of experience in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa. He shared that there is great interest within the farming community in moving away from traditional (low-tech) growing techniques and making the leap to technology-driven agricultural projects. He commented: “Nowadays it is harder to make a profit the traditional way, because crops are grown in the soil, and being in the soil carries major pest risks; in many cases these are soils that have been worked for more than 60 years. So they are very tired and not as fertile.” And fertility is not the only problem. “Growers apply a lot of chemicals to the soil to keep their crops healthy and prevent pests and diseases, but when they apply them to the soil there is no full control over the application, which creates enormous waste and drives costs very high.”
For all these reasons, hydroponics is becoming increasingly attractive to growers. The cost of keeping crops healthy in soil is roughly similar to the cost of substrate, and hydroponics has no soil-borne diseases; it is a relatively clean way of growing. On top of that, it reduces the amount of water and fertilizer you use when you grow in substrate. Water in particular is a resource we must protect, because in 10 years water will be a major problem.
Together with the DIDIHU® team, throughout the event we reviewed projects from all over the country case by case, helping them take their first steps toward hydroponics with the goal of lowering their costs. We helped them invest in the right technology when choosing their pot (POTHU® CC, DIDIPOT®) and the FIBERMIX® coconut substrate with the ideal particle size for their crop, which for them means fewer diseases, less water, and less fertilizer, resulting in higher-quality crops at a lower cost.
Today, consumers do not have time to go to the market and inspect vegetables before buying them; they want to go to the supermarket and pick up good-quality products there. That is why the quality of the products growers deliver needs to rise in order to meet market demand. We are facing a leap in quality demanded by the end customer. This push along the production chain improves the technologies applied in the field and, as a result, makes production more efficient.
It was a true pleasure to guide all kinds of growers and learn together with them how we can solve the challenges of achieving more profitable, higher-quality harvests. From small growers who want to take their first steps into hydroponics to the most important agricultural groups in Mexico and the world, all are convinced that to achieve a more efficient and profitable operation, in the face of labor shortages and dwindling water resources, making the leap to soilless agriculture is a must.
We are part of a generation that, thanks to the adoption of sustainable growing techniques such as soilless agriculture #SoilFree, can bring about real change in favor of ecological balance, achieving higher-quality harvests and long-term profitability. Thank you very much for visiting us at Expo Agroalimentaria. We look forward to seeing you at the next edition in 2020!
