Ferrilene Monograph

Ferrilene Line is a full line of the best available iron chelates (EDDHSA; EDDHA) to suit specific adverse conditions in the soil where iron availability is imparied. These chelates can provide plants with iron in the pH range 4 -10. The chelate increases iron solubility and transports the iron to the root of the plant, where it releases the iron quickly.

Valagro manufactures iron chelates in its chelate synthesis plant. The ability to manufacture iron chelates directly is important, as it enables Valagro to check and guarantee the quality of the final products. Chelated products are always checked and analyzed by our internal laboratory before being packed and marketed. Valagro is one of the most important companies in the world that manufactures Iron chelated based products in its own chelating plant, and these products are used to solve iron chlorosis in plants.

Chelating plant history

“We are chemists, that is, hunters ... nature is immense and complex, but it is not impermeable to intelligence; we must circle around it, pierce and probe it, look for the opening or make it.” (Primo Levi)

In 1991, at Valagro (at that time called Farmer) the construction of the new factory building for the chelates facility begun, in which Valagro Chemist work (Leo Giannantonio currently Global Q-EHS & Compliance Director) played a decisive role, thus covering all the needs of farmlands, their owners, and more. Hailing from that specific sector, Leo understood chelate micronutrients were manufactured by just a handful of industries worldwide, and while constituting a niche business, even small productions guaranteed high economic margins.

He also knew the properties of those molecules that imprisoned the nutrient, like the claws (or chelae) of a crab, conveying it undamaged to the plant and avoiding its solidification and dispersion in the soil. The expiration of Ciba’s patent for chelated micronutrients meant that they were no longer expensive to manufacture, yet very few industries were doing so.

Giuseppe and Ottorino realized that it would be more economical to produce their own, considering that they already had the facilities. Indeed, they would not only be able to package and sell the chelates, but could also use them to make other fertilizers, for example a water-soluble type, and of course manufacturing their own ingredients would ensure the quality that had become the company’s mantra, as it was the only aspect that could make it stand apart. The gamble on chelates soon paid off.

Valagro past and present. On the left, a group of customers visiting Valagro Spa's chelating plant in 1995-96. On the right, two workers of Chelating plant, 2021

The facility managed by Pino Codagnone, who immediately became its personification having overseen the entire installation process, was operating at full capacity after a couple of years, significantly boosting turnover. This was aided by the fact that it widened the firm’s potential clientele to other types of industries using micronutrients in other manufacturing sectors, leading Farmer to take over the Milan-based Siso, the very factory where Leo formerly worked, and become the only Italian company to manufacture chelating agents. More investments, more research and development, more revenue, more profits: it was a virtuous circle, a clearly defined path that continued to strengthen the entire structure.