Sargasso-Based Fertilizer From Quintana Roo Exported to US

Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo — A company based in Puerto Morelos has begun exporting organic fertilizer made from sargasso seaweed to the United States, marking a milestone in the industrial use of the algae that has long plagued the region’s beaches.

Sarga Agriscience announced it has signed contracts to supply its organic fertilizer to clients in the United States, Colombia, and Ecuador. The company has already completed its first consolidated sale to a US customer.

The fertilizer is produced through a process that decontaminates and transforms sargasso into a liquid product. The project, backed by millions of dollars in foreign investment, began in 2021 and is now yielding results, according to Sebastián Aguilar de Alba, the company’s innovation director.

The company targets large agricultural firms interested in sustainable practices. Current clients are in the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, and Colombia, with trials underway in Europe and Brazil.

The fertilizer is designed for high-value crops such as vegetables and berries, as well as regenerative agriculture systems. The plant can process 27 metric tons of sargasso daily. Sarga Agriscience has a five-year contract with one of the largest US agribusiness companies for half a million liters of fertilizer, which could triple or quadruple its daily processing capacity in the short term.

Aguilar de Alba announced plans to install a second production line in Puerto Morelos following the US contract.

The sargasso transformation business is already profitable with good margins, he said. It currently generates about 25 direct jobs in Puerto Morelos and 15 in the United States.

Despite commercial progress, one major challenge is the lack of adequate infrastructure to receive and process larger volumes of biomass. Much of the sargasso that washes ashore ends up in municipal landfills that lack proper handling conditions.

The company has begun talks with state and federal authorities to secure infrastructure support to scale up sargasso processing and prevent improper disposal.

Sarga Agriscience is among the first companies in Quintana Roo to achieve commercial export of a sargasso-derived product, turning a recurring environmental problem into an economic and sustainable development opportunity for the region.