Humic substances become protagonists in fertilizer

The transformation of a waste product from the wine industry into a high-efficiency liquid fertilizer illustrates the convergence of biotechnology, sustainability, and regenerative agriculture. Developed from the percolate of grape skins and pomace, the product has a direct action on the soil microbiota, promoting plant nutrition and root balance. “This liquid has a very strong, fetid smell, and is a vector for contamination, as it pollutes the water table. This was our initial problem,” explains Rodrigo Leygue, director of Nubitech. It was during attempts to biotechnologically treat this waste that the team observed significant transformations: the material began to present a sweet odor, basic pH, and a marked presence of plant humic substances. “The result was a liquid with a normal, sweet odor, closer to coffee or chocolate than the original unbearable smell. And with a pH — this is important — basic, that is, not acidic,” details Leygue. The change in the properties of the ...