This initiative, led by Paula Aguilera, Fernando Borie and Pablo Cornejo and supported by the UFRO Technology Transfer Unit, managed to create a company and to get their technology licensed.

The increase of the volume of water absorbed and the protection of the plant from adverse conditions are part of the benefits of the first native fungi (mycorrhizae) based inoculant product developed in Temuco, Chile, by a group of researchers of the Universidad de La Frontera.

The project is led by Paula Aguilera who holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources and the doctors Fernando Borie and Pablo Cornejo of the Department of Chemical Sciences and Natural Resources at the UFRO. The three researchers are part of the Research Center for Mycorrhizae and Agri-environmental Sustainability.

Because of its technical characteristics, this bio-based product has high expectations and numerous applications, benefits different types of plants of agricultural or ornamental interest and even supports the restoration of degraded and contaminated soils.

Thanks to the incorporation into the Scaling Program for Technology-based Companies that was created by the UFRO Technology Transfer Unit and IncubatecUFRO, the researchers created “MycoNativa”, a company that is responsible for the bio-based product and key in the process of its future commercialization.

“In our family agriculture is an important pillar and from this point of view, we have always been interested in promoting the use of technologies that favor the environment and agricultural productivity, especially all those that can deliver quality, an added value and a better functionality to the final product”, the researcher and founder of this initiative, Paula Aguilera, explained.

The production of this bio-based product, which is in its first phase, is focused on the implementation of a low-scale experimental station, for its technical validation and the beginning of commercial management.

In 2017, “MycoNativa” was the only project in the Araukanía Region that obtained the Corfo (Production Development Corporation) “Capital Semilla” grant in the second call.

BEGINNINGS

The project, which now is directed by the “MycoNativa” company, started with a University Research Valorization call, supported and boosted by the Technology Transfer Unit at the UFRO.

Through the Scaling Program for Technology-based Companies that was impulsed by the UFRO Technology Transfer Unit, “MycoNativa” has just managed to get their technology licensed. Within the next challenges is to take the production forward to the volume of a set of bio-based products which are based on these beneficial fungi and also to strengthen the area of training and services.

“This Knowledge started to grow thanks to many Fondecyt (Chilean National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development) Projects in which we saw certain feasibilities in these fungi, which are the prime material of the product we present. We wanted to go beyond basic research and deliver our results. This is why the most important thing is to provide this knowledge to companies and the productive sector”, Fernando Borie said.

“The participation of different units within our University has been key. Thanks to that, we were able to advance with this innovation. Research funds are not that easy to get, so we have to create a branch for product innovation and development”, Pablo Cornejo, researcher at the Research Center for Mycorrhizae and Agri-environmental Sustainability, commented.