The Costa Rican rice producer “Grupo Pelón” opened its bio-lab on Friday (yesterday) with which it will create its own natural products to treat crops and leave behind the use of traditional pesticides. In the plant located in Liberia, it will develop its own microorganisms with fungi and beneficial bacteria, which are in charge of controlling the different pests and diseases of all its farms.
“This is the first big step of a route that we have very clear protection and harmony with the environment“, said Grupo Pelón General Manager, Ricardo Castro, on Friday, in the radio program “Nuestra Voz”.
The laboratory was born at the end of 2018, and as Castro mentioned, the most difficult thing has been to change the paradigms, since the use of pesticides is embedded in the Costa Rican agriculture. “This laboratory is the example of a group of people who want to continue innovating, that we are not satisfied with producing our own energy, being carbon neutral, but we want to go further,” he said.
Currently, the Guanacaste company produces the “Tío Pelón Bioarroz”, which meets 3 objectives: certified carbon neutral, produced with renewable, and clean energy and is free of pesticides. “This rice is sold at the same price as the others that are in the market, so it can reach the entire population”, Castro said.
The inauguration of the laboratory this Friday took place with the presence of national authorities such as the Minister of Science, Technology, and Telecommunications, Luis Adrián Salazar.
