Following complaints from residents, it was indicated that the environmental odor was due to the use of guano as fertilizer, however Tomás Vial, Founder of Nova Agro, assures that well-composted guano does not emit any bad odor.
For several months now, a strong odor has been perceived in the air in the city of Curicó, which has caught the attention of residents, who have approached various local media outlets to report the situation. This is how the Environmental and Territorial Management Department of the local municipality began an inspection of farms and agricultural properties in order to register and georeference the information to deliver it to the Maule Health Seremi.
Authorities and local media quickly informed the population that the bad smells were coming from agricultural lands where guano was being used as fertilizer.
“As an Environmental Management Department, as a municipality, we can monitor and collect information, carry out a survey of which sectors are generating these agricultural practices, georeference the information and deliver it to the Seremi de Salud. Basically, here we need the Seremi de Salud to effectively deploy its teams in the territory, so that it can collect the information that we are providing because it is not a prohibited practice, but the problem is how farmers are generating this practice. It is a bad practice in the application.”, said in September Carolina Marín, Director of Environmental Management of the Municipality of Curicó.
Given this scenario, which has been repeated in other agricultural areas of the country, we spoke with Tomás Vial, Founder of Nova Agro Spa, a company dedicated to the marketing of organic and sustainable products for today's agriculture.
“There are many people with this problem and not only in Curicó, in the fields that are close to the residential areas it is turned into guano at certain times of the year, however, well composted guano does not emit bad odors; as the organic matter degrades, the odor should be eliminated, because that odor is the Escherichia coli (feces), but When you compost well, that is eliminated,” warned Tomás Vial.
The specialist also recommended always purchasing these types of products in established places that have SAG authorization.
“Poorly composted manure, in addition to causing an inconvenience for the nearby population, the workers who apply it, due to the bad smell it emits, is not immediately incorporated into the soil, therefore it partially fulfills its fertilizing function and that is running a tremendous risk that can have future consequences affecting the productive potential of the orchard or generating other complications,” Vial recommended.
Currently, Nova Agro offers fertilizers, amendments and biofertilizers; one of its most requested products by the agricultural sector is organic and stabilized chicken compost, a natural fertilizer of excellent quality, free of toxins, which helps improve the microbiological quality of the soil, achieving an optimal balance in its nutritional components; it is easy to apply and does not give off bad odors.
