Our focus is always on serving our community of growers and helping them succeed. That's why we love to provide value beyond DIDIHU's solutions, through knowledge and hands-on experience.

During the week of April 18, DIDIHU, together with Innovak Global, organized a technical tour with growers in Sinaloa featuring Dr. Prometeo Sánchez García, a professor at the Colegio de Postgraduados and a plant nutrition specialist who works as a researcher and advisor to agricultural export companies in Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Colombia and other countries.

Over two intense days, we visited hydroponic growers with a very wide range of management approaches: conventional crops, organic crops… The activity culminated in a technical presentation to which growers from the region were invited. The theme of the talk was: Biostimulation + Hydroponics as an export strategy. 

3 key takeaways:

1. Biostimulation and hydroponics create a better feeding strategy for plants:

Dr. PS reinforced the idea that  “to have a better fertilization strategy that encourages our plants to absorb their nutrients more effectively, it is essential to pair it with Biostimulation and Hydroponics.” 

Dr. Sánchez breaks away from conventional thinking and urges us to invest in these technologies in order to be more productive and competitive in the market, because this is the path to producing more with less. 

*Fact: Making nutrient uptake more efficient through biostimulation can help reduce fertilizer volume by up to 20%.

2. Pots that promote oxygenation:

another concept he strongly emphasized was the importance of root oxygenation and how pots designed with holes help keep roots better oxygenated. Dr. PS gave the example that “Blueberries are always looking for oxygen, and most of the time blueberry plants die because of heavy soils or degraded substrates that fail to provide an optimal balance for the root.”

3. The advantage of coconut substrate in hot climates:

the structure of coconut chips allows them to store water (reserve water) and nutrients for long periods between irrigations, which helps give roots a cooler environment. 

“Coconut has a remarkable ability to insulate and protect roots in hot climates, which tells us it is not as prone to overheating as other substrate media”, said Dr. PS. In Mexico's Pacific region, ambient temperatures can reach as high as 45 °C, so it is critical for roots to have a medium that helps them withstand these conditions, and coconut is ideal.

Complex concepts made simple and practical

Dr. Prometeo's visit was of great value to the grower community; seeing practical cases from different parts of the world, grounded in the reality of the region, really helped attendees engage in a two-way dialogue with the speaker. 

The concepts he presented are complex, but Dr. Sánchez has a great talent for putting them into simple, practical language, so the nearly 2 hours of his presentation flew by. It was truly a joy and an honor to have him with us, because in addition to being an outstanding professional, he is an extraordinary human being.