Cesar Rodriguez was born in Venezuela in 1960. He began engaging in Hydroponics in 1980-1983 with assistance in research at Texas A&M. In 1984, he started his own hydroponic food production in Venezuela introducing living butterhead lettuce, cherry tomatoes, yellow and orange peppers, and European cucumber.

During those 12 years, he worked as a CEA  (Control Environment Agriculture) grower. In 1986 he started developing a foliar micronutrient formulation until he partnered in 1992 with the Norwegian Group Norsk Hydro’s fertilizer division (Hydro Agri International), today Yara International, to introduce its specialty fertilizer portfolio in Venezuela.

During his venture with Hydro Agri International, he was able to improve Venezuelan horticultural productivity and quality  by offering, for the first time, a nitrate based formulation such Calcium nitrate, NPK+Mg+Micro, and foliar micronutrients. He also trained farmers on basic principles of plant nutrition, rational use of fertilizer, and fertilizer technology.

In addition, Cesar established his own fertilizer bulk blending operation of customized fertilizer formulation to farmer’s crop and soil real needs.

In 2020 Cesar co-founded Texas Green Star. Located in Sanger, Texas they grow hydroponically using the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) for leafy greens to satisfy the Texas local market demand. Texas Green Star is a 1.4 million square foot operation with a capacity to grow more than 60 million units of leafy greens.