The increasing use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides endangers the environment and human health. The biodiversity of the soil becomes impoverished and microorganisms are killed. Plants growing on it remain unhealthy and weak, which in turn leads to increased use of pesticides – a vicious circle.

Our food is contaminated. New data shows that 85% of our food already contains pesticides. Pesticides cause short-term adverse health effects called acute effects, as well as chronic adverse effects that can occur months or years after exposure. Sometimes entire food chains collapse and biodiversity declines. In addition, the residues get into the air and are inhaled by us.

It is crucial to reduce the use of pesticides and make them obsulete by environmentally friendly biological preparations. The most promising approach to crop protection is the application of microbial metabolites. Organic acids can be used for this, which are produced by bioleaching minerals in ekofertile® or bioleaching of primarily silicified rock residues after coal mining in microfertile®.

In recent years, bactericidal, fungicidal and nematocidal activities have been demonstrated for various organic acids. It has been shown that the use of these acids accelerated plant development and increased yields. The bottleneck in the practical application of these simple, non-toxic and inexpensive preparations is the lack of industrial production of the organic acids mentioned in the required quality.

Organic acids add organic substances to the soil that stimulate soil microbial life and soil fertility. This leads to an improved uptake of nutrients by the plants, an improved root mass and an improved growth as well as a higher quality and a higher yield of the plants. They contribute to the stabilization of the soil structure as well as to ion exchange, buffering, water holding capacity and the nutrient content of the soil. They are therefore important for maintaining and increasing soil fertility.

These organic acids are produced in our bioleaching process, registered as an EU patent on ecological release of elements and degradation of organic substances using heterotrophic microorganisms – and are already produced in several bioleaching projects in the EU.

You may contact us for more information – find our leaflet on agricultural biotechnology here and the leaflet on organic soil reactivation here – and you may also take a look at the proof of the effectiveness of our fertilizers: Exploring a hidden value of mining waste.