The pandemic in 2020 has thrown up many challenges but this has not prevented the Plants for Plants project from continuing with its extensive trials programme.
“We’ve managed to execute 33 trials, of which 31 we can use,” said van Oers. Trials were done in eight countries, rather than the planned 12 for 2020, on 13 different crops.
“In total we treated 40 hectares with either LL002 or LL004,” confirmed van Oers, who explained these were demonstration trials, which offered the farmer a chance to become familiar with the products and to see the results for themselves.
In order to understand what LL002 and LL004 refer to, it is necessary to explain the aim of the Plants for Plants project: to harvest plant extracts from organically grown food crops with specific properties; turn these into a new generation of biostimulant products that can be applied to crops and which will benefit from the properties of the original crop.
LL002 and LL004 refer to two of the three products that are composed of specific components in what is known as a standardized metabolite phytocomplex (SMP).
The LL002 extract is used in foliar application and is said to improve resilience to abiotic stress by boosting water-use efficiency due to the presence of a very specific mixture of flavonoids and organic acids. LL004 is applied to the soil as a liquid to be used in fertigation. It has a different targeted effect since coming from a different crop from LL002. The main components are a specific set of heterosides, which when acted together with other components, focuses attention on phosphorus and nutrient use efficiency (see New Ag International March 2020 for technical details of the project).
Marc van Oers
Crop types The trials were conducted on a mixture of cash crops, arable and fruit trees. Arable crops were corn, potato, wheat, canola, sunflower, sugar beet, onion and barley. Cash crops included melon, tomato, wine grape, strawberry and lettuce. Fruit trees were pear, apple and apricot.
Results so far “Out of the 18 demonstration trials we have already analysed, we have 13 trials with clear positive effects, 3 trials with neutral effects and 2 trials with negative or no effects. So far, we are very happy,” said van Oers. What is meant by positive? Van Oers spoke of 10 to 15% increase in yield on arable crops (potato, wheat, corn), 15-17% increase in yield on vegetables (tomato, melon), and up to 20-25% increase in yield on fruit trees, while stressing these were demonstration trials, where you essentially have side-by-side plots where one receives the application and the other does not. Positive results are also seen in trials where the crops have grown in comfort conditions as well as trials with a reduced amount of water and/or phosphate in comparison to farmers’ practice. These trials are not to prove efficacy, which has been done in the scientific trials, explained van Oers. It is more to demonstrate the potential to farmers. The pleasing aspect for van Oers is that these positive results were seen over three types of crop – arable, cash crop and fruit. For fruit, other factors than yield are also taken into consideration, such as coloration or calibre.
Scientific trials for 2021 The project continued its scientific trials for the fifth year in a row with already a lot of positive validation. “This year we did do so in The Netherlands and Italy. Unfortunately, due to COVID 19 we had to postpone Croatia, Poland and France. We will do that in 2021.”
The scientific trials are conducted by Italian R&D company LandLab, the partner in Plants for Plants and a certified Good Experimental Practices (GEP) company. This is important because for registration purposes, the trials need to be conducted by a GEP-certified entity.
From these trials, the partners are continuing to fine tune the dose rates and moment of application. Van Oers said they are continuing to learn about the mode of action of the products. “We’re just at the start of knowing what it does and how to improve the products.”
Registration Van Iperen has started the registration process for the products as biostimulants. Van Oers said the initial route is registering in one EU country and then using mutual recognition to get registration in other countries. “We’re aiming to be ready by the end of 2021 in order to have our first commercial introduction in spring 2022.” This follows the timetable that the partners committed to when awarded funding under the EU LIFE project.
The new EU Fertilising Products regulation, due to be active from 2023, offers another route for registration and sale across EU member states. Van Oers said that clarity from Brussels is still required on what the dossier would require. Under this route, it is expected that efficacy in different climate zones would be a requirement, which is why the partners of the project are performing trials under GEP guidelines across so many different countries.
Case studies The Plants for Plants partners have also released their first trial information.
One of the trials was conducted by an apple grower in Osijek, Croatia in 2018/2019. The trial was conducted by LandLab/University Croatia, and involved the foliar application of LL002.
In both the treated modalities, a significant increase in fruit size was observed, specifically on fruit weight, the information says. “The second major positive effect is observed on quality traits notably on colour coverage, where treated apples showed higher coloration.”
Anthocyanins pigments content: A clear positive impact of LL002 applications on fruit pigments content, in both situations: comfort and water stress.
The results from another trial using LL004 also highlight a targeted effect of reducing the volume of P applied. In France, one of the partners of the project, Arterris, coordinated a trial with a grower of apricots. The grower, Fabrice Haon of Rivesaltes, said: "I noticed a better and earlier load on the treated part compared to the control, despite a reduction in P fertilization, moreover I noticed a better caliber distribution on the sizes 2A and 3A which are best valued and less waste overall."
Next steps For partners, a webinar is being organized on 15 December 2020, going in detail through the different trials performed.
“Next to that we are planning our 2021 campaign where we are aiming to apply our products LL002 and LL004 in the pre-commercial year on more than 650 hectares,” said van Oers. Through next year partners outside Europe will also have the chance to use these products on a small scale and learn the capabilities of these products in their local situation. All of this in order to prepare a global commercial launching of the first two Plants for Plants products as of early 2022.
New AG International NOV/DEC 2020
Syngenta Group announced the acquisition of Valagro, a leading biologicals company, by its business unit Syngenta Crop Protection. The investment positions Syngenta Crop Protection as one of the key global companies poised to shape the rapidly growing biologicals market, which is set to nearly double in size over the next five years. Valagro will continue to operate as an independent brand in the market within the Syngenta Crop Protection business.
The acquisition enables Syngenta Crop Protection to build a world-leading biologicals business. Valagro has a strong commercial and production standing, as well as an industry-leading technology and research capacity. Valagro's well-established portfolio in biostimulants and specialty nutrients will complement both Syngenta Crop Protection's current range of biostimulants and biocontrols, as well as its future pipeline of biological solutions. Biocontrols and biostimulants, natural solutions for pest, disease control and crop improvement, are increasingly important for farmers worldwide in their efforts for sustainable agricultural production.
“This acquisition underlines our growth ambitions in this area and positions us as one of the strongest players in the global biologicals market,” said Erik Fyrwald, CEO of Syngenta Group. “The investment also forms part of our $2 billion commitment to help farmers address the effects of climate change and improve agricultural sustainability as part of our Good Growth Plan.”
According to Giuseppe Natale, CEO Valagro, for 40 years the mission at Valagro has been to harness nature in order to help farmers achieve higher yields and grow better quality crops. “This agreement will open up new, previously unimaginable growth prospects for the Valagro group worldwide,” noted Natale. “Now that we are part of a company with the resources and ambition of Syngenta Crop Protection, we have exciting new opportunities for our innovation to better deliver even more options for farmers and to invest even more effectively in the sustainable future of agriculture.”
The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
AlgaEnergy N.A. Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Spain-based AlgaEnergy S.A. and a global leader in microalgae biotechnology, and Concentric Ag Corporation, a leading developer of microbial and plant nutrient crop inputs, have signed a two-pronged partnership agreement.
The first agreement establishes AlgaEnergy as the exclusive global distributor of Concentric’s microbial product, Synergro (sold as Inocucor Garden Solution in California) and its cell-free microbial metabolite product, Synergro M2. The agreement excludes Concentric’s core business in Canada and the United States for broadacre and row crops. Synergro and Synergro M2 will continue to be sold through Concentric’s existing distribution channels.
The second agreement is a strategic partnership that enables AlgaEnergy to combine Concentric’s patented microbial technologies with AlgaEnergy’s proprietary microalgae technologies to create unique biological products, which AlgaEnergy will then distribute to growers in its global markets. Concentric will market these products in both Canada and the U.S. for broadacre and row crop growers.
“The business potential of these agreements is huge,” said D. Ry Wagner, AlgaEnergy’s president of international agribusiness. “Immediate access to Concentric’s current best-in-class microbial and cell-free microbial metabolite products expands AlgaEnergy’s product portfolio with outstanding products that are complementary to our microalgae-derived products. At the same time, our ability to create unique, high-performance products that synergistically combine AlgaEnergy’s microalgae technology with Concentric’s microbial consortia technology promises to yield whole new classes of products for AlgaEnergy’s grower-partners worldwide.”
Wagner said AlgaEnergy’s international group has established business units in major agricultural markets around the world and additional business units are in progress. As a result, AlgaEnergy now has a solid distribution system in place in key agricultural markets in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Concentric’s Synergro and Synergro M2 will be added to AlgaEnergy’s product mix in these markets.
Jarrett Chambers, chief commercial officer of Concentric, said the partnership with AlgaEnergy will help expand the California specialty crop market for Synergro that Concentric has cultivated for the past four years. Grower data confirms incremental yields with Synergro due to more efficient nutrient use and reduced abiotic stress.
“Our two companies are also aligned in our business goals,” said Chambers. “We want to accelerate adoption of sustainable technologies that can be easily integrated into a grower’s nutrient management plan. Our joint R&D efforts will be directed at meeting the challenge of sustainability while maximizing the genetic potential of the crop.”
Wagner said the innovation in today’s agriculture is coming from nimble venture-backed companies such as AlgaEnergy and Concentric, adding: “We are actively seeking other partnerships with innovators in the months and years to come.”
American Vanguard Corporation announced that its principal operating subsidiary AMVAC Chemical Corporation has acquired the Agrinos group of companies, a privately-owned technology leader in biological crop inputs.
Agrinos is a fully integrated biological input supplier with proprietary technology, internal manufacturing and global distribution capabilities. The company’s high yield technology product platform works in conjunction with other nutritional crop inputs to increase crop yield, improve soil health and reduce the environmental footprint of traditional agricultural practices.
“We intend to expand our global participation in bio-nutritional inputs that contribute to improving soil health. The acquisition of Agrinos is a major step toward achieving that strategic objective,” said Eric Wintemute, chairman and CEO of American Vanguard. “The Agrinos portfolio will complement our Greenplants liquid nutrition products which have enjoyed successful growth in the Central American market.”
Wintemute said that in independent field trials conducted over the last eight years, Agrinos technology has delivered yield increases on the order of five to 10 percent on row crop applications in corn, soybeans, wheat, rice and cotton, and 10 to 17 percent in many high-value crops such as almonds, peanuts, tomatoes, melons and grapes.
Agrinos’ intellectual property includes nearly 50 patents issued and nearly 100 pending worldwide. Agrinos has two manufacturing facilities, a state-of-the-art microbial input manufacturing facility located in Oregon, capable of customizing high-quality strains and a high throughput manufacturer of high quality biostimulants using naturally derived raw materials located in Mexico.
Pengbo Biotechnology, based in Shandong, China, has provided the crude extract of the endophyte Paecilomyces variotii known as ZhiNengCong (ZNC) for two recently published academic papers.
ZNC has been the subject of investigations as a plant biostimulant.
Back in 2019, in a paper published in the journal Plant Soil, results showed that ZNC “exhibited ultrahigh activity in promoting plant growth and enhancing disease resistance, even at concentrations as low as 1–10 ng/ml.” In the conclusion, the authors of the paper concluded ZNC was an “effective plant elicitor that promotes plant growth by inducing auxin accumulation at the root tip at low concentrations, and enhances plant disease resistance by activating the salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathway at high concentrations.”
Research has also been carried out on combining the biostimulant with a fertilizer. In 2020, a paper was release that studied the effect of ZNC on maize yield and root morphological characteristics when combined with diammonium phosphate and controlled-release diammonium phosphate (CRP).
Published in the journal Field Crops Research in May 2020, the research aimed to measure the effect on phosphate use efficiency, as well as yield and root growth. Pengbo Biotechnology provided the recommendation for usage at 1.5 g/ha in liquid form based on the common practice of fertilizer application by local farmers.
When describing the results, the paper stated both the CRP and DAP+ZNC increased root length. Interestingly the combination of controlled-release DAP and ZNC (CRP+ZNC) showed no significant difference to average maize yield and net income over the separate treatments of controlled release phosphate and DAP+ZNC. “Hence the application of CRP or ZNC could increase maize yield by improving soil P supply intensity to meet maize P demand and promoting root morphological characteristics and vitality,” the paper concluded, adding that further work was needed on biostimulant enhanced fertilizer.
ZNC has also been the subject of studies with controlled-release urea.
Pengbo Biotechnology also provided the ZNC for a study published in April 2020 in BMC Plant Biology in a paper entitled ‘Ultrahigh-activity immune inducer from Endophytic Fungi induces tobacco resistance to virus by SA pathway and RNA silencing’.
Rovensa has agreed to acquire Oro Agri, a leading provider of environmentally friendly biocontrol solutions with international reach, from the Omnia Group.
The acquisition of Oro Agri reinforces Rovensa as the leading independent provider of biological solutions globally and further expands its geographical footprint, particularly across the U.S., Asia and South Africa.
“Oro Agri has built an impressive biologicals business, with a worldwide renowned brand. Its regulatory and intellectual property strength, as well as its customer-oriented, technical go-to-market strategy with a boots-on-the-ground approach are squarely aligned with Rovensa´s philosophy and principles,” said Eric van Innis, CEO of Rovensa. “We are extremely excited to welcome Oro Agri into Rovensa. Its ambitious and talented management team, a highly promising product pipeline and the significant opportunities arising from the integration within the wider Rovensa group will be important drivers of our continued development.”
Erroll Pullen, Founder and CEO of Oro Agri, said: “It has taken us 20 years, from a one-man start-up to establishing leadership, product portfolio and distribution network across more than 75 countries. Recognition of these virtues by growers and distributors has recently opened the door for Oro Agri to significantly expand its North American distribution, doubling the number of outlets in the U.S.”
Completion of the acquisition is expected to take place prior to 2020 year end and remains subject to the approval of the shareholders of Omnia Holdings Limited, as well as certain merger control and other clearances.
Rovensa has three divisions: BioControl, which offers solutions based on biological inputs, such as plant extracts and micro-organisms; BioNutrition, which provides agricultural crops with specialty nutrition solutions for growth and healthy development; and Crop Protection, which eliminates and prevents biological threats in crops.
Asfertglobal, a Portuguese company that manufactures biofertilizers and biostimulants based on microorganisms, remains committed to meeting the company's growth objectives and has an important investment plan underway, totalling over 2 million euros in the short term.
The company will increase its biofertilizer production capability by acquiring new bioreactors equipped with the latest technology and will also have two additional laboratories. Work to expand the facilities is already underway and should be completed by January 2021.
The aim of this investment is to continue to broaden commercial horizons across borders. This year, the company's turnover regarding international trade will exceed 60 percent. In addition to Russia and several countries in Europe and Africa, the company began selling to the United States this year, and has now captured Latin America, with the first sale to Chile.
For Joel Jerónimo, CEO of Asfertglobal, this is “an important step on the path to the future … it is imperative that we do not sit back but instead continue to embrace new challenges with optimism, while being aware of the current situation.”
Spain-based Seipasa and Agromilenio, a Colombian agricultural solutions company, have entered into an agreement for the distribution of Seipasa products in Colombia. Seipasa’s Natural Technology products will be marketed in Colombia through Agromilenio’s network of distributors, technicians and advisors.
José Luis Egas, commercial director of Seipasa in Latin America, said the company has a wide international trajectory, with products under a process of continuous improvement.
"The fact of being present in 25 countries with 44 phytosanitary registries allows us to incorporate into the products all the knowledge and experience that we are acquiring in each of the agricultural systems and scenarios in which we work."
Egas added the products of the current Seipasa catalog in Colombia are registered by the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) and aimed at high value-added crops such as avocado, rice, potato, coffee, banana or flowers, among others.