PRESS RELEASE February 20th was a historic day for the Tapia family, who own and manage Rico Farms, as they celebrated the grand opening of their new BioFactory. Located at their Hermosillo farm it is the first Biofactory of its kind in northwestern Mexico.
“Rico Farms continues to push forward with radical innovations to improve soil and plant health, disease resistance and productivity. The results of the new biofactory will have tremendous results that will advance the productivity and profitability of organic growers while minimizing impact on the environment,” said Ben Johnson, Bridges Produce BB #:168499 president.
Bridges Produce is the exclusive sales agent for Rico Farms who grows organic summer and winter squash, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, melons and chile peppers.
The Tapia family are strong believers in the triple bottom line, and the new Biofactory advances their mission to take care of the planet by nurturing their fields as well as supplying high quality organic nutrients to other agricultural operations.
They will be able achieve more fertile farmland, with a higher content of organic matter, which allows them to have greater CO2 retention in their soils.
They will make over 100 products with three already in production, bacillus subtilis microbial inoculant, trichoderma harzianum microbial inoculant, and a fertilizer with high content of free amino acids.
The short-term objective is to identify endemic plant growth and biocontrol growth strains, that they can then adapt to the soil and climatic conditions of the area and develop biological insecticides and biofertilizers. The second phase of development will focus on vermicompost and an insectarium to breed beneficial insects.
“We want to create a robust R&D team with university researchers and our BioFactory team, so that we can develop new sustainable and organic materials for the overall industry,” said Francisco Tapia, owner of Rico Farms.
He continued “We have a top product that no one is selling, it is a liquid biofertilizer called BIO-AMINO. It is high in nitrogen and essential amino acids. The benefit of this product is that it can be used in drip irrigation and is much cheaper that fish fertilizer with twice the nitrogen content.”
Bio-amino has been tested on their organic zucchini and yellow squash and since the switch they are seeing healthier plants and the yields are up between five and fifteen percent.
This spring season it will be tested on all their organic crops.
The ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by experts in the agricultural and scientific sectors, university researchers, government leaders and long term partners.
“The Tapia family is unrelenting in their pursuit of continuous improvement. The biofactory is an exponential leap forward!” – Ben Johnson
For more information contact bridges produce info@bridgesproduce.com www.bridgesproduce.com
Contact:
Sydney Fairchild
Marketing & Compliance
Bridges Produce
Work: 503-235-7333
Cell: 503-891-1515
sydney@bridgesproduce.com
