In the Venezuelan southwest, near the Colombian border, the government has inaugurated the first of 21 laboratories to produce bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizers. The labs will be spread across 14 of the country's regions, and cost 13 million dollars. The products will be enough to supply up to 560,000 hectares of crops, says Agriculture Minister Elías Jaua.

The natural fertilizers and pesticides are “microorganisms, like mold and bacteria, that control the pests that take a toll on crops, such as the Beauveria bassiana which fights the coffee borer beetle, or Bacillus thuringiensis, which protects maize,” agronomist Michael Castillo, with the southwestern University of the Andes, explained to Tierramérica.

These bio-powders are dissolved for application on crops, replacing chemical pesticides. “We are complying with the commitments of the Kyoto Protocol (on climate change), which calls for reducing agro-chemicals,” said Jaua.