Malik Sultanov, Azerbaijani entrepreneur, for the first time in the world, developed a biodegradable additive for use in agriculture. M. Sultanov, who was awarded a Startup certificate by the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBİA) for the production and sale of soil moisture-retaining material for agriculture, gave an interview to "vergiler.az".
According to him, drought is one of the primary challenges facing some regions of our country, and as a result, farmers are experiencing serious harvesting issues: "To overcome this issue, for the first time in the world, biodegradable fertilizer was developed through our technology. A similar substance is used in other countries as well, however, the majority of them are polymer-based. The polymer can remain under the soil for a long time without decomposing. The primary distinction between our product and others is that it is biodegradable. We have developed a fully decomposable version of the product by utilizing various materials. The product is applied to the soil in powder form. During irrigation, the plant absorbs a certain amount of water, while the remainder is absorbed deeply into the soil. The benefit of this technology is that the soil collects the water that would otherwise be wasted and rechannels it to the plant. As a result, the irrigation intensity is lowered. We intend to utilize this technological approach in areas with more irrigation challenges, where soils are nourished solely by rainwater."
M. Sultanov also noted that the majority of planned work has already been completed with the grant of 19900 manats from KOBİA for the project: "We have developed and tested two versions of the product in the rented laboratory, and found that one of the products has a higher water absorption capacity. It can hold 250-300 times its own weight in water. After that, we decided to proceed our project with that product, so we tested it at the Research Institute of Crop Husbandry to assess its effectiveness. Currently, our initial aim is to obtain the license and commence production. We will apply to relevant institutions to this end."
The entrepreneur further underlined that they are intending to seek out 150-300 thousand dollars of investment to the project at the initial stage. The major goal is to compete in the global market as well as in the Azerbaijani market: "A Georgian firm is interested in our project and we are about to sign a deal with them. Currently, the project is drawing investors, but since there is no sale, investors are not planning to invest. We are seeking to have the product state registered as a fertilizer and then further proceed our efforts in this regard."
https://vergiler.az/news/economy/27526.html
Powered by Froala Editor