Bioinputs market grows in Mexico, will reach $2 billion by 2030

Due to their multiple benefits in agricultural production and productivity, soil restoration, more efficient water use, reduction of agrochemicals, combating climate change, and improving farmers' income, bioinputs are experiencing a growing popularity worldwide. 

While their use is still limited in Mexico, despite their effectiveness being validated both internationally and nationally, there is no public policy that allows for a quantitative and qualitative leap toward widespread use of this technology.

This technological innovation has solid foundations supported by research studies and fieldwork conducted by various academic, public, and private institutions.

Marcel Morales Ibarra, director of Biofábrica Siglo XXI, who has dedicated 22 years to the research and production of biofertilizers, emphasized that for the past five years, the Bank of Mexico's FIRA (Fair Trade and Development Agency) has been interested in conducting a rigorous evaluation of these fertilizers in crops such as corn, wheat, berries, agave, citrus, grasses, and sugarcane at its five Technological Development Centers across the country. This company has been participating in this process since its inception.

The most recent validation of sugarcane cultivation, during the 2024-2025 harvest in the state of Morelos, at FIRA's Tezoyuca Center, demonstrated that with a 30% reduction in chemical fertilization and the incorporation of biofertilizers alone, production on Morelos plots increased from 95 to 121 tons per hectare (h), and the production cost per h decreased by 2,400 pesos. It improved sanitation by 70%, and profits were 78% higher than those obtained with 100% chemical input.

In this regard, Morales Ibarra emphasized that, given all its productive virtues and contributions to global sustainability, the World Bank projects that the global bio-input market will double by 2030, increasing from US$10 billion to $20 billion.

Projections indicate that Mexico's trade will increase from $634 million to $2 billion by 2030. However, he added, public policy and programs are still needed to promote and encourage the use of bio-inputs throughout the country.

Solid background in the use of biofertilizers

The expert commented that in Mexico, a turning point for the development of scientifically based biofertilizers was the creation of the Center for Nitrogen Fixation Research at UNAM in 1980, "whose object of study was the process by which certain organisms that inhabit the soil and associate with the root system of plants can capture atmospheric nitrogen and transform it into ammonium, that is, the form that plants can assimilate for their nutrition. This is the basis of the biofertilization process."

The expert added that another precedent of great productive impact was the National Biofertilization Program, promoted between 1998 and 2000 by the Ministry of Agriculture in conjunction with UNAM. This program reached nearly two million hectares and cultivated a wide variety of crops throughout the country.

″Unfortunately,″ the specialist lamented, ″with the change of government in 2000, the program disappeared. Since then, public policy on the matter has been erratic, with ambiguous, if not confusing, regulations, which has not contributed to healthy development.″

Current Programs and Credit for use of Bioinputs must be Strengthened.

Marcel Morales believed that the modernization of irrigation promoted by the federal government is urgent, but water efficiency in agriculture can be enhanced with innovative production practices, such as the use of biofertilizers, accompanied by technical assistance, training on the proper use of bioinputs, and credit.

Regarding the latter, the expert on rural development issues emphasized that fortunately, FIRA will launch a financing program to encourage the use of biofertilizers, via rate subsidies, and the outlook is that this will trigger a broader process of using bioinputs in general. The scheme also includes support for producers of up to 80% of the cost of biofertilizers.

He emphasized that, given market volatility due to tariffs and rising prices for chemical inputs, especially fertilizers, of which Mexico imports 80% of its consumption, "we must aspire not only to food sovereignty, but also to sovereignty in the production of sustainable inputs."

Morales Ibarra emphasized that FIRA's efforts to promote the use of biofertilizers in the countryside are significant because they link credit with the transfer of sustainable technology. "Credit is the only truly effective instrument we have to carry out the required technology transfer process. Through financing, you can reach broad sectors and have a greater impact on these types of productive and sustainable innovations."