Duration of the project: 3 years (until June 2015)

 

Funding source: Fundación para la Innovación Agraria, FIA (Fund for Agricultural Innovation)

 

Partners in the project: CAMPOCOOP - Bioren UFRO - BioMar Chile

 

Summary:

Increasing world demand for plant protein presents a unique opportunity for Chilean agriculture, and in particular peasant family agriculture (PFA).

 

The capacity to transfer the benefits of this opportunity to agricultural production in southern Chile will depend on the creation of productive alternatives with a high protein value and low productive cost to ensure its competitiveness compared to soybean cake.  CGNA has developed a yellow lupin variety with 60% protein in the shelled grain and adapted to the conditions of the Araucania Region. However, the success of this alternative will depend on the use of technologies that assure grain yields, protein content and low production costs, especially for PFC.

 

We propose developing a biofertilizer specific for yellow lupin, composed of selected strains of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, through microencapsulation as an alternative to nitrogenated fertilization, without this implying a loss in yield or protein/hectare, with consequent positive effects on costs and the environment.

 

The application of the biofertilizer will allow for decreasing or eliminating the use of nitrogenated fertilizers, increase protein yields, and with that, increase the competitiveness of this alternative among both peasant producers and the food industry. This will rank as a new national protein source and link PFC to the food industry, in particular to the salmon production cluster.

 

 

 

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