Artal Smart Agriculture participated in the first edition of AgroMurcia, a congress organized in Cartagena to analyze the unprecedented challenges agriculture is facing in view of the objectives proposed by the European Union to reduce the use of phytosanitary products.
Juan Artal, general manager of the company founded in 1895, presented Plant Immunotherapy, a new biological therapy based on the identification or development of substances produced by plants or manufactured in a laboratory to improve, activate, strengthen or boost their immune system, making them more resilient.
Artal Smart Agriculture has been working with the Jaume I University of Castellón (UJI) for more than ten years in the research for solutions that allow to produce in a safe, sustainable and highly productive way. As a result of this collaboration, he has developed this technology that stimulates the immune system of plants, the natural tool that allows them to overcome pests and diseases and is responsible for their ability to survive for millennia.
In 2018, it became the first company in the world to develop this immunological activators’ technology (Priming effect), and it has been verifying its effectiveness in the field for more than five years. “Through Plant Immunotherapy we are not working against anything, but in favor of the plant, which represents a conceptual change in the management of this technology compared to the agricultural management strategies that have been promoted up to now”, highlighted Juan Artal in his speech.
Priming technology has proven to be effective in various crops, both citrus and leafy and fruit horticultural (tomato, cucumber, pepper, eggplant, strawberry, lettuce…) and in various woody crops; In addition, its effectiveness has been demonstrated against different stresses (sucking insects, arachnids or necrotrophic fungi).
Since its launch, it is being successfully used or is being evaluated and/or registered in more than twenty countries on four continents, such as Greece, Portugal, England, Mexico, Brazil, Iraq, Vietnam or China.
Among the success stories achieved with the Priming technology, Juan Artal cited the reduction in the presence of whitefly in tomato plants thanks to the release of antixenotic volatile compounds; the decrease in the presence and damage by vasate and Tuta absoluta in tomato; the significant reduction of aphids in pepper; the decrease in the number of eggs, larvae and adults of red spider mites in mandarins, thanks to the release of substances with antixenosis and antibiosis effects; the notable reduction of the damage of Botrytis in tomato, as much in leaf as in fruit; and the reduction of red spider mite populations in strawberry plants stimulated with priming (up to 90% compared to non-stimulated plants).