Interview: AE. Eduardo Torres Sánchez, Agrobionsa CEO

Eduardo Torres Sánchez, originally from the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, is an Agronomist by profession and is currently the General Director of Agrobionsa, a local company leader in the production of biorational products for the control of agricultural pests and diseases.

  1. Could we share a little of your professional experience?

I grew up in an orchard of my father’s oranges, where I had the first contact with the fruit of the earth. Then I trained as an Agronomist at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa. In the 1990’s I began my specialization in the control of agricultural pests and diseases with Microbial Agents of Biological Control (AMCB) in the Integrated Pest Management (IPM), an area in which to date I do not stop learning.

  1. How were the beginnings of Agrobionsa?

Agrobionsa was born in 1994 as a friendly alternative to the environment for the control of agricultural pests and diseases, within food safety.

When our orchard of oranges, family heritage, was being devastated by the white citrus fruit fly, we managed to rescue it using entomopathogenic fungi. Then, together with my father, Eduardo Torres Pompa, we decided to found a company for the production of AMCB, as a friendly alternative to the environment for the control of agricultural pests and diseases.

  1. What are the main pests and diseases that affect agricultural activity in Sinaloa?

In the vegetables, the diseases that enter the root are the phytoparasitic nematodes and the phytopathogenic fungi.

Of the aerial plagues they are picudo of the fruit chile and white mosquito transmitter of virus in diverse cultures.

Each crop, depending on the area, has its characteristic problem.

  1. What is the importance of integrated pest management in agricultural enterprises?

Integrated pest management is the judicious use of the combination of different techniques available for the control of pests. In this management, the biological control is fundamental to obtain good results, being one of the relevant methods the use of microbial agents, which is the specialty of Agrobionsa.

  1. How does biological control work in agricultural crops?

The most widely used form of biological control is known as flood, which consists of applying the biological control agent in large enough quantities to control the pests that affect agricultural crops. It works using the natural biotic resources that are enemies of pests, which can be predators, parasitoids or pathogens. These natural enemies of the pest are extracted from nature, they reproduce massively and return abundantly to the habitat (agricultural crop) to establish a new equilibrium where the pest is biologically controlled.

  1. Can the use of biological control help improve the safety of agricultural production?

Of course, because biological control is a way to control pests and diseases using living organisms that are harmless to humans, and also to animal species other than the pest, including pollinating insects.

Of course, they do not generate stress on plants, on the contrary, some of the biological control agents, especially microbial agents such as those produced by Agrobionsa, stimulate the development of plants.

  1. Could you share how the Agrobionsa Quality System works and with what accreditations does the company have?

The quality system of Agrobionsa is based on controls of each and every one of the stages of the processes, using equipment and raw materials of certified quality; and carrying out the activities with competent personnel, duly trained.

Among the certifications of Agrobionsa are ISO 9001-2015 and OMRI for organic agriculture. And of course, Agrobionsa products have the respective registers of COFEPRIS, for use in the control of pests or diseases in agricultural crops.

  1. What do you consider will be the main consumer trends that could boost the implementation of biological controls?

What has been driving the use of biological control is the consumer’s demand for products generated in food safety environments, as is the case with organic production, where it is produced in conditions free of toxic substances that may remain in the products.

  1. What do you consider to be the main challenges facing the agricultural industry today?

The challenge is to reduce costs and increase agricultural production in safety conditions, so that the products obtained in these conditions increase their participation in the market, reaching a greater number of people. Having thus, a healthier human population in conditions of respect for the environment.

  1. Something else you want to add.

To thank Eleven Rivers the opportunity to communicate to society our views and values ​​that characterize Agrobionsa. A proudly Sinaloan company, founded locally with a global vision in the production and commercialization of inputs for an agricultural production with innocuousness, identifying ourselves with the environment and conscious of the preservation of the environment.