ICL’s Agronomist Insights: Manuel Moreno Villar

With over 25 years of experience in agricultural production and crop nutrient management, Manuel Moreno Villar is an asset to ICL Iberia’s agronomy team. Coming from a farming family, Manuel has been in contact with farming from his very earliest years, instilling a passion for crop production.

I believe agronomy is a very important field, and I am proud to contribute my grain of sand to create a more prosperous society.

Mr. Moreno primarily provides agronomic support to the sales and marketing departments at ICL Iberia, where he also assists other departments and supports global working groups. Manuel’s typical day involves developing, testing, and promoting ICL’s plant nutrition products for ICL’s Spanish customers.

Recent Successes

Some of Manuel’s most exciting projects in recent months include:

• Developing Polysulphate-based fertilizer blends using our natural, prolonged-release, multi-nutrient fertilizer.
• Leading the team that achieved registration of ICL Potash (KCl) as an input for organic agriculture.
• Introducing and promoting the use of Agromaster controlled-release fertilizers to our customers in Spain.
• Launching ICL’s innovative new BIOZ biostimulants range in Spain.

Efficient Sustainable Solutions

With a keen interest in increasing both efficiency and sustainability in agriculture, Manuel enjoys the opportunity to combine his agronomic knowledge with his understanding of ICL’s innovative plant nutrition products.

My goal is to help boost yields by sustainably increasing efficiency and ultimately achieving “more with less”

Significant Increase in Sugar Beet Profits

Mr. Moreno recently completed the development of a fertilizer program for sugar beet growers in Spain. Manuel described the process as particularly rewarding as the new fertilizer program, using a combination of controlled-release fertilizer and Polysulphate, significantly increased crop yield without increasing production costs. This means that for each hectare of production, the farmer gets a better financial return.

Combining Knowledge and Experience

The key to such results is the powerful combination of knowledge and experience. Understanding the crop, soil, and climate, along with the technical features of our fertilizers, is essential. But Manuel believes it takes more than this. His knowledge of farmers and their daily lives helps him to better understand their needs. Incorporating this understanding means Manuel can develop relevant crop field trials using all the tools that ICL has available, monitoring the crops day by day to continue improving and advancing production. Manuel believes this approach is the best way to find the optimum agronomic solutions for farmers.