Can agrodealers be agents of sustainability transitions in agriculture? Reflections based on the expansion of biological inputs in Mexico
研究了墨西哥谷物产区农资经销商在推广生物投入品（如生物防治、生物肥料）中的积极作用，发现他们通过差异化竞争、自产微生物和提供技术支持来推动农业可持续转型，对政策制定者和农业推广机构有参考价值。
Agrodealers are key players in providing technologies and support services to farmers. Nevertheless, they are generally perceived as reluctant, or at least inactive, in the transition to more sustainable practices. In this article, we examine their contribution to the expansion of biological inputs - biological control, biofertilizers, biostimulants - understood as a set of alternative technologies for reducing the consumption of chemical inputs. Based on a qualitative survey of agrodealers and various agricultural R&D stakeholders in Mexico's Bajío grain-production region, we show that they play a proactive role in the expansion of these technologies. Faced with a highly competitive environment, including these products in their portfolio enables them to differentiate themselves from their competitors, while continuing to promote the productivity and profitability of their crops to their customers. In some cases, they not only distribute the products of upstream industries, but also become producers themselves of the microorganisms they offer for sale. They are also actively involved in encouraging farmers to acquire and use these technologies, while striving to minimize the disruption that this may cause to their practices. To this end, they provide advice and support, and develop formulas for integrating biological inputs into technical packages that facilitate their adoption. These results call for a reconsideration of the role these actors could play in initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable technologies and practices for the agricultural sector.