Elena Montero: “Yara’s commitment is to reduce the carbon footprint of its products and its environmental impact”

By Milagros Jurado

Yara, a world leader in plant nutrition, has been facing a new stage since its division for Spain and Portugal (Yara Iberian), which began at the beginning of the year with the appointment of Elena Montero as its new director general. In this interview, ECA addresses the main axes of action, objectives and concerns of this company, committed to solving the main challenges of agriculture of the future: to feed an increasingly large world population and contribute to the preservation of resources promoting the use of sustainable practices.

E-Comercio Agrario: what would you highlight of the evolution that has been experiencing your company since its inception?

Elena Montero: from our foundation in 1905 to our days, Yara has evolved from the hand of the agricultural sector. Yara emerged more than 110 years ago to respond to a famine in Europe and during this time our company has always had a privileged position to respond to some of the most important challenges of our time, particularly in relation to food shortages and resources and climate change. Our newly redefined mission – Feeding the world and protecting the planet – sums up this goal very well and is the raison d’être of Yara as a company.

ECA: what is the typology and characteristics of your products and how it translates into costs, profitability and environmental impact?

Elena Montero: in Yara we have a wide portfolio ranging from solid fertilizers to soluble products and liquid fertilizers for fertirrigation, not forgetting our YaraVita ™ range where we find all the correctors and products for the supply of micronutrients. We produce all our fertilizers under the best quality standards and with the best raw materials, which translate into products of the highest quality.

“We defend a rational use of our fertilizers, that is, to provide the crop with the nutrients it needs, in the precise dose and at the right time”

The good management practices we promote from Yara are the best example of sustainable agriculture, both economically and environmentally speaking.

ECA: what are your latest innovations and what specific problem are you trying to answer?

Elena Montero: our experience and knowledge of the crops at a global level – but always taken to the local level – and our desire to respond to the needs of farmers motivates us to constantly invest in R & D, where we invest much of our efforts. One of our latest developments has been the launch of YaraVita ™ STAR K, a product with a high Potassium content to contribute this nutrient at critical times of cultivation. This contribution helps to achieve a better maturation and better organoleptic properties, as demanded by the final consumer.

We can not forget the digital environment and our digital tools TankmixIT ™ and CheckIT ™, which seek to facilitate the work of the farmer in his day to day. The first is an application to check the compatibility of YaraVita ™ product mix with other phytosanitary products. CheckIT ™ is a tool that helps to identify nutritional deficiencies in a very visual way through a wide bank of images and possible symptoms that the crop can present, and offers a recommendation to solve the anomaly.

ECA: in Yara you advocate for sustainable agriculture. What is your role in this regard?

Elena Montero: other factors are added to the good practices and to the rational and sustainable use of our products mentioned above. On the one hand, our commitment to innovation and the new technologies that we think is key to being able to face the new challenges that we face. In this sense we can talk about sensors that help to be more efficient in the management of drip irrigation or our service of analysis of soil and foliar Megalab ™. Analyzing allows us to know the amount of nutrients that we have to contribute to the crop is well nourished, while avoiding excess nutrients in the soil.

Another factor is the work we are doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the production systems of our fertilizers. “We are committed to reducing the carbon footprint of our products and the impact of production on the environment.” Beyond the message, we are backing the numbers: thanks to the technology of nitrous oxide (N2O) catalysts installed in our plants. Nitric acid, Yara was able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 59% between 2004 and 2013. Taking into account that fertilizer production during this period increased significantly, these data are significant and only confirm our commitment .

ECA: innovation and R & D is one of your pillars, in that sense, what are your main lines of research and study?

Elena Montero: this commitment to R & D is manifested in different areas. On the one hand, we continue to work to improve and innovate our production systems. Some of the production processes with which we manufacture our fertilizers are patent from Yara. This is the case with the Nitrophosphoration process with which we manufacture our high-tech NPKs. On the other hand, much of our efforts are focused on launching new products that respond to the needs of farmers. The mentioned YaraVita ™ STAR K is just one example and has enjoyed a very good penetration in the market. In addition, as I mentioned earlier, we continue to work to be at the forefront in the digital terrain, with the launch of services and tools that facilitate the work of agriculture.

Montero, at the Viña Plantmaster ™ presentation in Lisbon.

ECA: which of your projects would you highlight? What could you tell us, for example, of your studies in tomato and broccoli, to test the use of your fertilizers in these crops and assess their productivity and profitability?

Elena Montero: Last year we launched a large number of demotrials, many of them in these two crops. In them we compared a subscriber plan proposed by Yara against a conventional program.

“In tomato for processing we obtained that in the plots where our subscriber plan was followed, production would increase by 11% on average and the average weight per tomato would increase by 3.5%”

On the other hand, in broccoli, the farms that followed our proposal of subscriber managed to increase the production by 5%.

This type of studies allows us to continue developing knowledge to put into the hands of farmers products that are not only more profitable, but also respect the environment more. We recommend specific applications after analyzing all parameters according to local specifications.

ECA: your sales are based on an important network of distributors, what actions do you contemplate to boost your turnover?

Elena Montero: for Yara our distributors are a key piece in our business model and a key link when it comes to approaching the farmer to respond to their needs. Although the contact with them is practically daily and the communication very fluid, we meet annually with some of the most important in the Convention of Partners to share with them the strategic lines in commercial and marketing matters.Distributors are our travel companions and an essential collaborator to jointly achieve common goals and respond to the great challenges we face. The collaboration is very close, to give an example, at the beginning of the campaign we developed a joint marketing plan that seeks to respond to the specific needs of each one of them.

ECA: Yara’s philosophy is based, among other things, on listening to the farmer and distributor, how do you implement this listening process and with what actions do you intend to give answers to the needs and demands that you collect from this target audience?

Elena Montero: At Yara we believe that being close to the distributor and the farmer is fundamental to being able to offer innovative solutions, but it does not work without active listening.

“Knowing the concerns of our customers and what they demand is the key to being able to build a customized solution that responds to their needs and creates profitable businesses”

A good example is the launching of new products that arise, in most cases, to meet local and very specific needs. A good example of this is one of our latest developments in the market: YaraMila ™ BALANCE, a NPK with a more appropriate balance of nutrients for the southeastern, potassium rich soils.

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