Biological ag products use beneficial microorganisms to boost plant health
High-throughput screening is
not just for finding novel genetic traits anymore. It is also being used to
find beneficial microorganisms in the growing field of “biologicals,” which
could bring some innovative plant-health products to market in the next few
years.
“We’ve
always known about biologicals but didn’t have the technology to multiply and
find out how relevant or how compatible with chemical compounds they were going
to be. The field is opening up,” says Jim Beuerlein, technical advisor, Seed
Enhancement Biologicals, Becker Underwood, Ames, IA, and former Ohio State
University agronomy professor.
“We
can now source and screen many thousands of potential biological actives in a
very short time, similar to what our colleagues have done in plant breeding and
ag chem for many years,” says Trevor Thiessen, president of Novozymes BioAg,
Saskatoon, SK. “This has not been done before in ag biologicals and will
accelerate our ability to bring effective biological products to market.”
“We’re learning a great deal more about how to manage
living organisms in the soil profile as well as their benefits to crop growth,”
says Marty Robinson, president, Advanced Biological Marketing (ABM), Van Wert,
OH. “We’ve also seen growing acceptance of biologicals by growers, in part led
by large crop protection companies.”
Bayer CropScience recently introduced Votivo, a biological
nematicide, and Monsanto features the Harpin Alpha Beta protein for early plant
growth and vigor in Acceleron seed treatment.
Over the next few years, Becker Underwood will focus on
biobased seed enhancers, the first of which is Vault HP. In on-farm trials last
year, soybeans treated with Vault HP (which combines a biofungicide and a
patent-pending rhizobial inoculant) yielded an average 6 bu./acre more than
controls. It also was tested widely with university cooperators in the Midwest
and South. Soybeans treated with the biological showed improved root mass and
higher levels of nodulation.
The
biofungicide component helps suppress Fusarium
and Rhizoctonia.
Vault HP is applied at a rate of 2 fl. oz./cwt. of seed.
Novozymes,
which developed the BioAg division in 2007 after it acquired the microbials
company Philom Bios, focuses on biofertility products, including JumpStart,
TagTeam and N-Prove.
JumpStart, a phosphate inoculant containing the naturally
occurring soil fungus Penicillium bilaii, improves the
availability and uptake of phosphorus in a variety of crops, including corn,
soybeans and wheat. Novozymes launched the product first in Canada and then in
the U.S. JumpStart can help reduce the amount of phosphorus that farmers need
to apply. It gained a lot of interest when phosphate fertilizer prices soared
in 2008, Thiessen says.
TagTeam,
which has been used in a variety of pulse crops, combines rhizobia with the
soil fungus Penicillium bilaii to
produce what Novozymes BioAg calls a MultiAction inoculant. The soil fungus grows
on plant roots and makes less available forms of soil phosphate available to
the plant. Phosphate helps create and move energy for the nitrogen fixation
process, Novozymes BioAg says.
N-Prove,
a single-action inoculation containing one active microorganism for nitrogen
fixation, is used in a variety of legume crops.
In development
The
next wave of biologicals coming from Novozymes BioAg will be bio-pesticides.
Biopesticides represent an untapped area, Thiessen says. “Before, we were
exploring the potential of a few thousand microorganisms. Now we can look at
tens of thousands.”
The
first of the company’s biopesticides for corn and soybeans will likely be a
biofungicide that could be applied along with the seed treatment. This
biofungicide would not replace the chemical, but rather cover any gaps, Thiessen
says.
Novozymes
BioAg says it also is working to develop biological yield enhancers — which use
beneficial microorganisms to improve overall plant health and vigor.
ABM
will be marketing SabrEx, a biofungicide for corn selected from a Trichodermastrain newly discovered at Cornell University.
In trials with crop consultants and seed companies last year, corn treated with
the biofungicide averaged 9 bu./acre more than fungicide-treated corn without
SabrEx, Robinson says. “Experience has shown that it will increase root mass in
corn, including fine root hairs. This helps the plant use nutrients and water
more efficiently.”
With
SabrEx, medium nitrogen (N) rates may perform as well as high N rates, Robinson
says. For example, 150 lbs. of N/acre with SabrEx could yield results that are
similar to those achieved by applying 180 lbs. of N/acre without it.
ABM
is developing a SabrEx line featuring five biological strains and expects to
market it for corn, wheat and rice.
For the soybean market, ABM will market Excalibre SA — a
combination of Excalibre (which blends three strains of Bradyrhizobia) and Trichoderma strains. The company
tested this soybean inoculant widely last year, including areas of the country
where inoculants are not normally used, such as Illinois and Iowa. Preliminary
testing showed an average yield increase of 2.2 bu./acre over controls. More
testing is planned for this year.
These
companies acknowledge that some farmers are skeptical about biologicals.
Beuerlein, for example, notes that in years past, some biologicals worked only
intermittently and were expensive.
However,
Thiessen says that the science has come a long way. The companies around today
have established a good scientific basis for development, whereas 10 or more
years ago, some companies did not put rigorous testing into effect.
“That’s the reason there is a healthy skepticism,”
Thiessen says. “But we worked hard to understand the technology and launched
our first product after 10 years of lab and field research.” Philom Bios had
been established more than 20 years before it was acquired by Novozymes.
Biological challenges
Development
of biological products, which have living organisms, presents various challenges.
One challenge is to create a product that acts consistently across a wide range
of soil conditions and environments. Another is to be able to multiply and
package strains in a way that they survive and perform well in the field
without being cost prohibitive. Yet another is to develop strains that are
compatible with chemical compounds that growers already use.
Despite
the challenges, these and other companies see potential for biologicals,
including their use in crop rotations to help delay the onset of resistance to
certain chemicals and to improve overall plant health and vigor.
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