© Luke Hutson
As always, the aim of the Congress was to disseminate the latest understanding on biostimulants, combining scientific and agronomic research with commercial aspects, such as strategies for product development, new uses and case studies, and the latest regulatory developments. And as always, the scientific committee had the difficult task of assessing the abstract submissions, around 300 in total. Before the event, one of the members of the scientific committee Marciel J Stadnik, Professor at Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis (UFSC) told New AG International:
“I am particularly keen to hear about cutting-edge technologies allowing the use of single and multicomponent biostimulants on crop plants in different environments, and to learn new insights about the underlying molecular and physiological mechanisms triggered by them to mitigate different types of abiotic stresses.”
First full day The Congress began with the first plenary keynote session on Tuesday 30 November, and opening remarks were made by Professor Patrick Brown, University of California, Davis and co-chair of the scientific committee. Professor Brown made the point that research is now moving on from core materials to functional moieties and how to optimise them. He noted that microbial biostimulants were currently a growth sector, particularly in the areas of synthetic production. He presented a graph with an upward trajectory showing the rise in published scientific papers related to biostimulants. Professor Brown concluded by drawing the link between the two elements of the conference – the scientific and the business development side. Products need good R&D, he noted, and there needs to be a discrimination between products. He concluded with an observation echoed several times during proceedings that food producers and retailers are demanding greener products and this represents an opportunity for biostimulants. Following his opening remarks, the stage was set for Sylvie Brouder, Professor of Agronomy, Purdue University. The title of Professor Brouder’s presentation was ‘Plant nutrition and Climate Change’. During her presentation she mentioned ‘intellectual honesty’. She offered as a take-home message on the nutrient balance in soils and the possible impact from changes in climate: “We have an understanding of the mass-balance approach. It’s harder to estimate for different climates, and we haven’t been able to do it that well thus far.” This will be the challenge for the future, she warned, particularly when estimating residue levels of N and P.
Professor Patrick Brown, University of California, Davis
Then, from the Austrian Institute of Technology, we heard from the Head of the Bioresources Unit Angela Sessitsch, who spoke on ‘Biostimulants the microbiome and soil health.’ She presented a slide showing her group’s work on trying to find which microbials are important for seeds, and what are the functions of microorganisms on seeds. Answers to these questions are being used to create products that use seeds as a vector for microbial application to soils. To follow was the Chief Scientific Officer of Biome Makers Alberto Acedo with a keynote ‘Soil Microbial Composition allows assessment of Biological Product Effectiveness and Crop Yield Prediction’. Biome Makers specializes in the analysis of the soil microbiome and the determination of the functions of the microbial communities that reside there. The company uses its Gheom technology, based on computer-based next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS), to contribute to advances in the microbial characterization of agricultural biomes.
Science track The first presentation of the scientific session was given by Ernesto Alejandro Zavala, Head Researcher of the Spanish company Atlántica Agricola, and entitled ‘The accelerated flowering in tomato and Arabidopsis by the nematophagous fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia and its relation with jasmonate signaling.’ The fungal parasite of nematode eggs P. chlamydosporia is also a root endophyte known to promote growth of some plants such as barley and tomato. This study demonstrates that P. chlamydosporia colonizes A. thaliana, according to the paper’s abstract.
Also in the scientific session was Jamal Javanmardi, Assistant Professor, California State University – Chico, who posed a question in the title of his presentation ‘Worm compost tea’s plant growth-promoting power, is it the micro-organisms or chemical properties?’ As we moved into the afternoon, there was a remote presentation from Professor Giuseppe Colla, University of Tuscia. He presented on ‘Protein hydrolysates as potential biostimulant in vegetables: elucidating their mechanism and optimizing their effectiveness through a translational research approach.’
Protein hydrolysates are often used in animal feeds, and around 20% of overall consumption is in agriculture.
Professor Colla made the point during presentation that protein hydrolysates are often used in animal feeds, and around 20% of overall consumption is in agriculture. The effects of protein hydrolysates is due to is composition of peptides and amino acids. Professor Colla noted that typically products using protein hydrolysates are low dosages – namely a few litres per hectares. This session also looked at techniques to find new microbial strains for biostimulants. Microbials research specialist from Valagro, Ilaria Lebano, elaborated on “Use of Maldi-TOF mass spectrometry and statistical tools as an integrated strategy for strains identification in microbial biostimulants.” Moving to modes of action, Clara Piccinini, a PhD student at Queens University Belfast presented on
We have an understanding of the mass-balance approach. It’s harder to estimate for different climates, and we haven’t been able to do it that well thus far.
‘Biostimulants mode of action in plant growth and gene regulation against hypoxia effects.’
Then we heard from Guilherme Oliveira, project coordinator, Lallemand Plant Care, ‘First robust field trial tool adapted to evaluate the agronomic value of biostimulants.’ “The aim of this work was to develop a new, robust field trial method based on geostatistics to evaluate the efficacy of biostimulant treatments at the farmer scale,” stated the abstract. ‘Evaluation of biostimulants for plant stress tolerance – overcoming challenges for an objective assessment in field trials,’ was the title of another presentation in the session by Ignacio Colonna, AgriThority, Global Director, Science and Technology.
“The presentation was about testing biostimulant products for stress, mainly drought and heat stress. I manage products in LATAM and in South America heat and drought stress are a big thing in agriculture,” Colonna told New AG International after the presentation. “One take-away is make sure you budget your testing correctly. Testing for biostimulants under stress is much more expensive than testing under environmental hyperactivity – results are more noisy and data can be lost. Plan correctly, don’t under budget. “Second point is to make sure you understand the performance of your product across environments correctly. Stress comes in all different colours. It’s not the same stress in early in crop or at flowering or later. Make sure you can quantify and make the correct certification of stress. “Third – make sure you assess your product performance objectively. Move away from subjective and anecdotal evidence, move to objective and quantified evidence which can build the credibility of the product. If you rely on anecdotes, it is difficult to prove and translate into measurable indicators,” said Colonna.
Second day The science track session began with Professor Patrick Brown, chair of the scientific committee delivering a keynote on ‘Biostimulants, Nutrient Use Efficiency and Product Quality’.
You know why we are here. Agriculture is inefficient.
“You know why we are here. Agriculture is inefficient,” said Professor Brown early in his presentation. He went on to describe the effects of nutrients draining into the Gulf of Mexico. He said that customers are insisting on sustainability and mitigation of pollution. “This will be the driver that matters,” concluded Brown.
This was followed by a presentation from Landlab in Italy. Cristina Sudiro, Area Manager Plant Biostimulation, discussed ‘LL004: a novel biostimulant for improved yield and quality in fruits in phosphorus deficiency.’ LL004 is a standardized metabolite phytocomplex, covered in New AG International March 2020.
The science track continued with Hiarhi Monda, R&D Lab Director, Bio Huma Netics, Inc who expanded on humic acids extracted from shale ore in a presentation titled ‘Bioactivity of humic acids extracted from shale ore: molecular characterization and structure-activity relationship with tomato plant yield and phenotype.’ Continuing the science track, we looked at a biostimulant for a specific crop. Robert Kremer, Professor of Soil Microbiology, University of Missouri: ‘A brassinosteroid-based biostimulant integrated with an innovative crop system improves maize productivity.’ Professor Kremer also presented the concept of a solar corridor crop system (SCCS), which in the abstract was described thus: “SCCS, based on wide-row spacing of maize, forms a corridor that provides more uniform distribution of incident sunlight available to all chloroplasts within the fully exposed leaves. The SCCS maximizes the capture of solar radiation and carbon dioxide, improving photosynthetic efficiency and grain yields.” PhD researcher from Belgian Ghent University, Noemie de Zutter presented on ‘Shaping the rhizospere: Can in planta rhizobiome selection for phosphate solubilizing bacteria outperform classical in vitro selection methods?’ In the science track, we heard from Lukasz Langowski, molecular and plant biologist, with Brandon Bioscience. He elucidated on ‘Ascophyllum nodosum biostimulants and their role in reducing nitrogen inputs for sustainable crop production’. Also, in the science track on Day 2, we heard from Stefano Ambrosini, PhD student, University of Verona, who presented: ‘A root-growth promoting collagen-based protein hydrolysate boosts recovery after Fe deficiency.’ Ambrosini went on to win the Poster award (see comments in Awards section). Continuing the science track on Day 2, Heiner Goldback, Professor, Division Plant Nutrition, University of Bonn, presented on ‘Foliar application of biostimulants; how to get them into the leaf apoplast?’ "Everything about the morphology of the leaf is against absorption,” began Professor Goldback. He said the challenge was to identify the bottlenecks for biostimulant absorption when applied as foliar product. The science track then looked at seed treatments, and continued with Julien Besnard, Research Engineer, University de Caen Normandie with ‘Biostimulant seed treatment to enhance germination, symbiosis establishment and early growth of soybean subjected to low temperature.’ The science track continued with Algaia and the director of Research and Innovation Franck Hennequart who discussed ‘Development of novel patented seaweed-based pool of ingredients to enhance plant growth through the soil beneficial bacteria.’ Another presentation related to foliar application and this time a specific crop was delivered by Jesús Alcolea, Variety and Transfer Manager of the Fruit breeding group CEBAS-CSIC in Spain, with a presentation entitled: ‘Evaluation of important fruit traits in almond cultivar ‘Penta’ after foliar application of a biostimulant.’
We absolutely need legislation, but we need to be careful that it doesn’t slow down innovation
The solar corridor maximizes the capture of solar radiation and carbon dioxide
Forward looking Also in the science track were two future-looking presentations from Guillaume Barbier, Biofertility Program Director of JoynBio: ‘Synthetic biology for unmet agriculture needs.’ In another forward-looking presentation, we heard from the CEO of Fyteko Guillaume Wegria, with ‘Bioengineered naturally occurring signal molecules, a new generation of plant biostimulants.’
Third day Day 3 in the science track began with Pierdomenico Perata, Professor of Plant Physiology, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna who tackled the big question: The future of biostimulants.’ Professor Perata had been on the scientific committee of the first Biostimulants World Congress. “We absolutely need legislation, but we need to be careful that it doesn’t slow down innovation,” he said.
Following on and coming at the sector from a regulatory viewpoint: ‘Proving the impossible: how regulations denying the multifunctional nature of beneficial microorganisms can kill the innovative potential of plant biostimulants’ was presented by Kristen Sukalac, Consulting Partner, European Biostimulants Industry Council (EBIC). Sukalac reminded the audience that the EU Fertilising Products regulation (2019) comes into effect next year – July 2022.
To follow there was a regulatory framework and update panel with Kristen Sukalac and David Beaudreau, Executive Director, U.S. Biostimulant Coalition. Later in the morning on Day 3, there was a view from the growers from Zheng Wang, Cooperative Extension Vegetable Crops Farm Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension: ‘Voice from California Vegetable Growers on Crop Biostimulants: Impression, Concern, and Hopes’. The science track continued with Jose Maria Garcia Mina, Full professor of Agricultural and Biological Chemistry, University of Navarra discussing ‘The key role of biostimulants in a sustainable agriculture framework’. The closing remarks were delivered by Professor Patrick Brown, co-chair of the scientific committee. Brown drew on various aspects presented during the course of the conference.
If you’re not driving ROI, you’re not going to be successful.
Some presentations sort to understand the background situation, in other words the nutrient or microbiome status, in a field at any one time. Brown shared an anecdote: “I spoke to a farmer, and referring to images showing various colours he said, I’m fed up with pretty pictures. Come back when remote sensing is remotely useful.’” Brown went on to talk about the transition from research to product. “Sometimes we get marvellous results, but we don’t always. That’s the constraint that we know. No grower is going to buy a 50/50 product.” In summarising the conference papers, he said that one needs to come back to understand the biochemistry, and physiology. His final words were high praise for the standard of science presented.
Commerical Track In the commercial track, the commercial vice president USA for Hello Nature, Jon Leman, discussed ‘Innovation in the biostimulant sector: how to achieve sustainability and profitability.’ He spoke to New AG International afterwards: “It’s very encouraging to see investment coming into market, you’re seeing better R&D, and we see this as positive sign for all of us involved.” The circular economy was a point of discussion on the sidelines. Fabio Agnolon from SICIT Group told New AG International: “We produce and sell hydrolysed proteins – amino acids and peptides from animal origins. We are totally involved in circular economy. Because we recover byproducts, add value to those byproducts and we put them into the economic cycle.”
Roundtable There was a commercial roundtable discussion with an expert panel, followed by Dominic Arun Joseph, Director, Varsha Bioscience and Technology, who presented ‘Commercial aspects of biofertilizers and biostimulants development utilizing rhizosphere microbes.’ Continuing in the commercial track, Ry Wagner, President of International Agribusiness, AlgaEnergy discussed ‘Regenerative systems approach to sustainable agriculture; harnessing the power of innovative biological solutions.’
Also, on sustainability, Benoit Genot – Chair of the EBIC public affairs steering group and group marketing director, Valagro, elucidated “The third way: a solution for sustainability.” Looking to the future and sustainability in commercial track, there was Courtenay Wolfe, CEO FBSciences discussing ‘The Next Generation of Biostimulants Products: Finding synergies to make 1+1=3 in the field.’ Wolfe said, “If you’re not driving ROI, you’re not going to be successful.” When discussing the FBSciences strategy: “We don’t go out to sell at the lowest price. We might be higher, not competing on price. We want to win on ROI.”
Ryan Miller, Director of Applied Research for North America, Stoller, follows up on the sustainability theme with: ‘Utilizing science and technology to support agricultural sustainability.’ “What we find the most valuable about conferences like this is to find partners and be able to collaborate, and to grow our message and our industry together,” he told New AG International. Then in the latter part of the afternoon in the commercial session was Matt Meisner, Vice President of R&D and Data Science, Farmers Business Network, presenting ‘Accelerating Innovation Commercialization via On-Farm Trials.’ Rebecca Williams-Wagner, principal scientist 3Bar Biologics discussed ‘Revisioning the biomanufacturing process for improved delivery of microbial biostimulants.’
Fabien Achard, Biostimulant Product Manager, Agrauxine by Lesaffre, offered insights on ‘How we develop and commercialise biostimulant solutions. A case study insight to Moka, a yeast extract-based solution.’ A case study was also be presented by Agronutrition’s Philippe Girault, Director of Commercial Export. Continuing the commercial track, ‘Driving innovation in legume seed treatment through biostimulants’, Alexandre Macedo, Vice President of Fertigation, Foliar and Biostimulants, Yara. The session was concluded by a presentation from Anna Konieczny, International Marketing Manager of Polish company Intermag, who posed a question: ‘How to turn beneficial elements into effective biostimulants?’
Roundtable day 2 There was a second roundtable on the Innovation Stage featuring experts from a variety of companies. Back to the commercial track, Irina Taka, Owner and Executive VP of Crop Biostimulation Technologies took the floor to discuss ‘Modern paths for tackling crucial plant needs through crop biostimulation techniques.’ Hamdi El Jendoubi, International Technical Area Manager, Fertinagro Biotech: ‘Soil microbiome biostimulation, designing the new phosphorus nutrition in plants’. A case study from Amvac was scheduled to round out the day on the commercial track.
Atlantica Agricola’s CEO, Marta Gutiérrez, highlighted the theme of digital agriculture and robotic technology at the Congress when talking with New AG International. “I think the added-value change is going to change a lot. I think public enterprise as well as private companies must research to reduce the use of pesticides. There are other factors such as digitalisation and sustainability that are going to modify how we understand agriculture, and the way we develop the process in the future.”
Product launches Many products were launched at the Biostimulants World Congress. The following does not attempt to be a complete list and apologies are extended if a product was launched of which we were unaware. Alexandre Macedo, Vice President of Fertigation, Foliar and Biostimulants, Yara told New AG International: “Research has always been important to Yara and in the last 10 years we’ve gone deep into biostimulants.” At the Congress, Yara launched a seed treatment product for leguminous crops, of which soybean is the main target crop. “The product is tank-mixable with pesticides [and] is heavy metal free, the results are really good in terms of nitrogen fixation and nodulation. It’s a product that ticks all the important boxes for the farmer, and we’re proud to launch it at this event.” Carles Zannuy, Global Sales Manager for Sustainable Agro Solutions, told New AG International: “We have our Banadak product, for the induction of defensives for banana crop [defense activator biostimulant], and we’ve been developing a similar product for coffee crops.” Van Iperen is ready to launch its range based on Plants for Plants. Three products were unveiled at the Congress – 4-Good, 4-Vita and 4-Terra. These products will be launched in January in Europe and the Middle East, according to Marine Denion-Lair, Director of Marketing with Van Iperen. Other new products were launched by Brandon Bioscience (see NOV 2021 issue of New AG International) which is a biostimulant coating for fertilizer granules. Lisha Daniel, Senior Technical Manager, Plant Nutrition at Sensient Technologies, gave a presentation highlighting the company’s new range of raw materials. Tradecorp launched Biimore product; see interview with Jorge Aquilar. “Biimore is an efficient biostimulant obtained from exclusive plant fermentation period,” he told New AG International in an exclusive interview. “It has a high efficacy at ultra-low doses,” he added. ●
The European Biostimulants Industry Council (EBIC) welcomed two new members to the European biostimulants industry family: Aphea.Bio and Biocontrol Technologies.
According to a news release, EBIC looks forward to the contribution of these companies to achieving its mid-term strategy objectives and working towards EBIC's mission: to ensure biostimulant technologies are valued as integral to sustainable agriculture, while securing an enabling regulatory framework for all of them.
With the addition of these two companies, EBIC has 64 members to tackle its 2022 work plan, which aims to step up advocacy and engagement efforts around plant biostimulants and their contribution to EU policy imperatives set out in the Farm to Fork Strategy and European Green Deal. ●
Moira Capital will invest €10 million to drive the growth of Biorizon Biotech, which produces microalgae-based biostimulants and biopesticides.
Founded in 2010 in Almería (Spain), Biorizon Biotech plans to carry out a strong investment of around €23 million in product registrations in strategic markets, as well as in optimizing the largest microalgae and cyanobacteria production plant in Europe.
With a presence in seven countries including Spain, Italy, Portugal, Peru, China, Ecuador, Chile, and Morocco, the company plans to continue its internationalization process in southern Europe, Latin America and Asia. ●
Elicit Plant, an ag-tech company specialized in crops’ water-stress resistance and in the development of innovative phytosterol-based solutions, has raised €16 million in a Series A financing round.
Through its laboratories located in the Charente region in France, and its Brazilian branch in Sao Paulo, Elicit Plant has developed a biostimulant using phytosterol, a molecule found in plants. The solution boosts the plant’s metabolism, reducing their need for water and allowing for a better resistance to water stress.
In April 2021, Elicit Plant obtained market approval from French regulatory authorities, and launched the commercialization of its first product, known as BEST-a, addressing corn and soybean crops.
The funds raised will be used to accelerate commercialization of its products in France and several key markets throughout Europe, North America and South America. They will also serve to consolidate the scientific platform, expand laboratories, and diversify the portfolio of products to address additional types of crops.
The capital component was led by Sofinnova Partners, with the support of ECBF, Bpifrance and historical investors, Aquiti Gestion-NACO fund and Credit-Agricole Charente Perigord Expansion. The rest of the funding came from a banking pool and public programs from Region Nouvelle Aquitaine and Bpifrance. ●
Best-a can be used on soybean and corn. Photo: Elicit Plant
The Éléphant Vert Group has acquired Lipofabrik, a start-up from the University of Lille, France, specialized in plant protection and biostimulant products.
Lipofabrik has developed a biostimulant based on Bacillus subtilis, called PlantBoost. The product is authorized in Belgium, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and the United
Kingdom, with a commercial launch taking place this year.
Lipofabrik also has a portfolio of biofungicide biocontrol products in development, based on purified active biological molecules. ●
Corteva Agriscience launched its first nutrient efficiency biostimulant, Utrisha N for Canadian farmers.
Utrisha N works by capturing nitrogen from the air and converting it to a usable form for the plant while enhancing plant growth and resilience by providing crops with a constant supply of nitrogen throughout the lifecycle of the plant.
Its mode of action is a naturally found bacteria that can be applied during existing field applications with existing equipment and has an application window that extends beyond the early growing season.
Utrisha N is designed for established crops across Canada, including canola, cereals, corn and soybeans. ●
Photo: Janet Kanters
Valent BioSciences LLC is establishing a new operating unit designed to expand its biostimulant line with new internally and externally developed products for both the U.S. and global markets.
The new organization will be created and fully staffed over the next few months, enabling it to become functional ahead of the 2023 crop season in the U.S. market.
The new biostimulant unit will work with partners in discovering, developing and commercializing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) products.
Valent states AMF technology supports this initiative effectively because AMF form a symbiotic relationship with approximately 90 percent of terrestrial plant species (including crops and forest trees) that provides many benefits, including the sequestration of carbon and improved soil health. As a result of this process, mycorrhizal fungi act as a direct air capture technology, which is trademarked as EcoDac by Valent’s parent company Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.
“Establishment of this new operating unit will assist us in growing our AMF business and helping meet rising U.S. crop production market industry demands for carbon-smart technologies,” said Salman Mir, Valent BioSciences’ chief commercial officer and chief operating officer of mycorrhizal applications. “This will benefit not only our customers, but society as a whole as we focus on helping growers in sequestering more carbon. It will also spur rapid development of global biostimulant products, which continue to attract increased interested and acceptance from growers around the world.” ●
Canada-based NutriAg has launched M-BOS in Canada for a variety of crops.
The product was developed together with Trent University (Peterborough, Ontario) by combining NutriAg's proprietary formulation technology with a specialized plant growth promoting bacterium, Methylobacterium organophilum, first isolated from the petiole of Pelargonium zonale.
The specialized bacteria, once applied, produce several metabolites that impact leaf senescence, nutrient mobilization and cell division, and assist the plant defence against abiotic stress. This also assists the plant in building natural cytokinins to promote growth.
Applied as a seed treatment, in furrow or foliar spray, M-BOS has shown to increase tolerance to abiotic stress and accelerate growth rates. ●
Summit-Agro Ukraine has signed an exclusive agreement with European agricultural biotech developer Fyteko to distribute its biostimulant Nurspray.
Fyteko stated the foliar spray formulation is based on one signal molecule designed to trigger the plant’s response to tolerate and recover more efficiently from abiotic stress conditions. Nurspray contains hydrocinnamic oligomers, a group of naturally occurring biomolecules found within plant cell walls. From a new class of biostimulants known as “signal molecules,” when applied to crops Nurspray “trains” the plant’s natural defense mechanism to prepare for stress events such as low water availability or heat.
Nurspray is registered in Ukraine for crops such as wheat, maize, sunflower, soybeans and peas, and oilseed rape will be added soon. Fyteko states 2022 marks the first year of Nurspray commercial sales. ●
The Mosaic Company and BioConsortia, Inc. have entered into a new agreement to develop and launch nitrogen fixing microbial products for all crops, including corn, wheat, rice, fruit and vegetables in China, India, Thailand and Vietnam.
The companies announced a collaboration to develop these same nitrogen fixing products for the Americas at the end of 2020. Following a year of progress from lab and greenhouse, and encouraging results from first year field trials on corn and wheat in the United States and Canada, the companies have decided to expand the relationship to major Asian countries where Mosaic has direct go-to-market operations.
“Our growers have asked for easy-to-use and cost-effective alternatives to synthetic nitrogen fertilizers that can increase their productivity and profits,” said Kim Nicholson, Mosaic vice president ag technology and innovation, strategy and growth. “After the success we saw in lab, greenhouse and field trials last year, we are thrilled over the potential to offer these products to our customers in Asia markets.”
According to Marcus Meadows-Smith, BioConsortia CEO, Mosaic has “an exceptional team that understands crop nutrition and have a commitment to develop and fully exploit our nitrogen fixing microbes. We are very excited to expand our collaboration to these key Asian markets.”
BioConsortia’s nitrogen fixing microbes are also applied as seed treatments and in-furrow for row crops, and as drench and through drip irrigation for fruit and vegetables. They are robust, easy-to-use and have a two-year shelf-life.
New AG International spoke to Sowmya Balendiran, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer
New AG International spoke to Sowmya Balendiran, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer who provided the following insight into the company.
Please can you tell us a little about the history of Sea 6 Energy? I understand it is a company with different business units, of which biostimulants is one division. Founded on the campus of India Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, one of India’s premier educational institutes in 2010, Sea6 Energy was built on the vision of sustainably and ethically harnessing the oceans to build novel technologies and products that can have a positive impact on food, feed and renewable industries. We have built a fantastic cross functional team consisting of engineers, PhDs, analysts, and business experts which focuses primarily on cultivating red seaplant [seaweed] at very large scale on the oceans using novel patented technologies developed in-house in a very sustainable manner. This seaplant is then used to create many innovative products for use in multiple industries. After many years of research and development we commercialized our first product for use in agriculture in India in 2016. This product is now globally patented and brings in a novel mode of action which benefits the farmers by improving crop productivity. We are currently selling our products across Asia pacific, U.S. and Europe. We are also focusing on developing novel food ingredients and animal health products which are planned for commercialization shortly. Sea6 Energy is also working on exploring the possibilities of renewable plastics and packaging materials from seaweed which can have a strong positive impact on the environment.
Seaweed is the primary raw material for your biostimulants – is that correct? What variety of seaweed? Can you tell us where you harvest and any qualities about the seaweed that you harvest? Our biostimulant and biodefense products are derived from red seaplant. You may notice that we use the word “seaplant” and not seaweed. The reason is that we cultivate our seaplants on the ocean using our proprietary cultivation systems, unlike any other player. Most seaweeds grow in the wilderness of the oceans and is wild harvested by companies which use them as raw materials by obtaining licenses etc, depending on the geographies. However, we do not use such “wild harvested” seaweed and we use only our freshly and sustainably cultivated seaplants for all our products. Interestingly, our cultivated seaweed does not attach to the seabed, growing on or just below the water surface, so there is little chance of causing damage to the seabed during harvesting.
The variety of the seaplant we use belongs to the group Rhodophyta, red algae which is primarily grown in the tropics. Currently, we cultivate our seaplant in India and in Indonesia.
Red seaweeds are the only source of sulphated galactans, which are chemically distinct from any other polysaccharides. They have unique bioactive properties. The extraction processes deployed can convert the sulphated galactans into versatile applications, ranging from renewable bioplastics, agricultural biostimulants to immune enhancers and human food ingredients. Red seaweeds, in particular Kappaphycus and Eucheuma species, have a high yield potential (> 100 dry tonnes/hectare/annum) and are rich in bioavailable potash. In addition, they are also safe for consumption and have been used as food and in the manufacture of food ingredients over the last five decades. The vegetative nature of the seaplant makes it amenable to mechanical cultivation. The growth-harvest cycle of the red seaweeds is 45 days and multiple harvests are possible in a given year. This, coupled with our SeaCombine cultivation platforms, ensures a steady supply of sustainable and traceable raw material. Thus, there is no limitation on the raw material availability or scalability for novel applications.
How are your products different from the other products? Firstly, the active ingredient (AI) distinguishes our products on the marketplace.
Many seaweed-based biostimulants contain the polysaccharide alginic acid. Our biostimulants contain the AI sulphated galactans, the polysaccharide mentioned above, which stimulates the various genes responsible for vital plant functions such as cell division, photosynthesis and metabolism.
Our product is completely organic and highly potent, offering high performance at very low dosages, such as 125 g/ha . We have a granted product patent for our biostimulant product in the major agricultural markets globally. The patent covers the specific signature of the active ingredients derived from the juice and pulp of the red seaweed. This makes the patent strong and enforceable, adding a competitive edge to the product/partners.
What sectors do you sell into in India? In India, we have a portfolio of products including biostimulants in the form of liquid, powder and granules. In addition, we have a biodefense range of products, based on a different active compound from our raw material, which helps in controlling viral infections in plants. We sell our products into various crop segments including row crops such as corn, rice, wheat and soybean, horticultural crops such as tomatoes, peppers, cucurbits including the greenhouse and hydroponics market, and we also have a strong presence in high value markets like grapes, citrus and
apples. Since our product is organically certified by agencies like IMO, Ecocert and OMRI, we have a strong and growing presence in organic farming in India and around the world. Our products have ultra-dose rates compared to many other biostimulant products in the markets which makes it well suited for modern modes of applications like drone applications.
Do you export products or is that one of your plans? If you export, which countries do you export to? We have commercialized our agricultural products in Asia Pacific, U.S., LATAM and Europe, and we working to launch in more than 15 countries in the next few years. We have partnered with large global companies to take our products across various countries around the world.
Are you looking for companies to partner with? If so, what are the criteria? We are looking to work with more partners in different countries. We generally look for the following aspects in choosing our partners
1. R&D expertise – We believe this is a crucial aspect of choosing a partner because a good R&D team can understand the uniqueness and benefits of the product. 2. Nationwide presence –This allows us to work with a single partner in the entire country. 3. Distribution strength – We look at the distribution strength regarding plant health products, crop focus, and others as this would ensure the product reaches a large audience.
4. Global presence – We believe in working closely and deeply with few partners. Thus, we prefer partners with a global presence so as to launch our products in other countries.
5. Product portfolio –This helps assess the proper fitment and harness synergies for both Sea6 and the partner. ●
Our product is completely organic and highly potent