BioConsortia News

BioConsortia Appoints Dr. Damian Curtis as Senior VP

BioConsortia — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:24:49 GMT

Industry Veteran Brings Nearly Two Decades of Biopharma and AgBio Leadership to Accelerate BioConsortia’s Microbial Genomics Platform

DAVIS, CA – June 1, 2026 - BioConsortia, Inc., a leader in agricultural technology specializing in advanced microbial solutions to enhance crop productivity and reduce agriculture’s ecological impact, today announced the appointment of Dr. Damian Curtis as Senior Vice President of Research & Development. Dr. Curtis succeeds Dr. Hong Zhu, who transitions to BioConsortia’s Strategic Advisory Board, where he will continue guiding the company’s long-term scientific strategy.

“Damian’s appointment reflects the exceptional caliber of scientific talent we have built at BioConsortia,” said Marcus Meadows-Smith, Chief Executive Officer. “Promoting from within demonstrates the strength of our R&D organization and our confidence in the scientific foundation that has made us a leader in agricultural microbial innovation. Damian combines deep expertise in microbiology, genomics, and gene editing with the strategic vision to translate cutting-edge science into commercially impactful agricultural products.”

A Career Built at the Intersection of Biology and Commercial Impact

Dr. Curtis brings nearly two decades of scientific leadership spanning biopharma and agricultural biology. He spent close to eight years at Bayer, where he developed deep expertise in microbial biology, genomics, and agricultural applications. Earlier in his career, he spent five years at Exelixis, broadening his capabilities in drug discovery, before transitioning to agricultural research. Damian played a key role at AgraQuest — the pioneering biocontrol company that achieved a successful exit through its acquisition by Bayer — where he gained formative experience in developing and commercializing biological crop protection products.

Since joining BioConsortia, Dr. Curtis has been central to advancing the company’s proprietary microbial discovery platform, strengthening capabilities in genome-informed strain selection, gene editing, trait optimization, and functional characterization. His focus on Gram-positive microorganisms — valued for their durability, formulation advantages, field stability, and consistent performance across diverse environments — aligns directly with BioConsortia’s strategic priorities.

“BioConsortia has assembled one of the most advanced microbial R&D organizations in agriculture,” said Dr. Curtis. “What differentiates this company is the integration of discovery biology, genomics, computational analytics, strain engineering, fermentation, formulation, and field development into a single innovation engine. I’m excited to expand our capabilities in microbial genomics and gene editing to develop next-generation biological solutions that deliver meaningful value to growers globally.”

Dr. Curtis’s appointment comes as BioConsortia advances a pipeline of seed treatment products targeting nitrogen efficiency, crop productivity, and sustainability outcomes across major global crops. The company’s heavy investment in genomic technologies and data-driven microbial characterization enables the rapid identification and optimization of elite microbial strains — spanning nitrogen-fixing, biocontrol, and biostimulant technologies designed to reduce dependence on synthetic agricultural inputs.

Dr. Hong Zhu Joins Strategic Advisory Board

During his tenure as SVP of R&D, Dr. Zhu was instrumental in building the scientific organization and innovation platform that define BioConsortia today — expanding capabilities across microbial discovery, product development, and translational science, while fostering a culture of scientific rigor and collaboration.

“Hong’s leadership established the company’s reputation for technical excellence and positioned us for our next chapter of growth,” said Meadows-Smith. “We are pleased that he will continue contributing as a strategic advisor.”

“I’m incredibly proud of what the BioConsortia R&D team has built,” said Dr. Zhu. “Damian is a highly respected scientific leader with the vision and expertise to take the organization forward. I look forward to supporting the company’s mission through my role on the advisory board.”

ABOUT BIOCONSORTIA

BioConsortia, Inc. is an agricultural biotechnology company specializing in advanced microbial solutions to enhance crop productivity and reduce agriculture’s ecological footprint. The company’s pipeline is focused predominantly on seed treatment products, including nitrogen-fixing, biocontrol, and biostimulant technologies targeting major global crops. For more information, visit www.bioconsortia.com.

Biological seed treatments give growers options - BioConsortia

BioConsortia — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:29:17 GMT

April 10, 2026

By Gerhard Uys, for Farmers Weekly

A seed treatment delivers nitrogen as soon as root growth starts.

System reduces need for synthetic N and answers price, supply and environmental needs, H&T says.

Biological treatments that reduce the need for synthetic nitrogen make sense in a world where input prices skyrocket and environmental concerns abound, says H&T managing director Paul Oliver.

Oliver said his company’s new product, AlwaysN, is a microbial seed treatment that can be used in maize, cereals, brassicas and pasture seed.

The seed treatment helps growers reduce nitrogen losses and their environmental impact while maintaining yield.

AlwaysN is a microbial seed treatment that can be used in maize, cereals, brassicas and pasture seed.

He said more and more farmers and growers are seeing the sense of using biological products.

Price is one motivator for using it.

Another is that a product like AlwaysN allows you to reduce the amount of synthetic nitrogen that you’re applying, which reduces the risk of nitrate leaching.

The nitrogen that’s supplied to the plant through the AlwaysN mechanism isn’t prone to leaching, he said.

In practice, unforeseen circumstances such as weather make it impossible for farmers to always side-dress when it’s the most agronomically advantageous, but a seed treatment delivers a constant source of nitrogen, he said.

A seed treatment allows you to bridge the gap to when conditions allow application. It also delivers nitrogen as soon as root growth starts.

Marcus Meadows-Smith of BioConsortia in the US, left, with Paul Oliver, managing director of H&T, in a paddock of AlwaysN treated barley.

Oliver said AlwaysN is sourced from the United States.

The product is brought in 200 litre containers, is applied at a low rate and is easier to ship than large shipments of synthetic fertilizer, so supply is more secure.

He said it is becoming harder to both maintain registrations of synthetic products and register new products.

The pathways to registration and regulatory compliance with biologicals is generally easier, he said, although in the European Union proof of efficacy is becoming a strict requirement.

Interview: BioConsortia doubles down on globalization efforts - BioConsortia

BioConsortia — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:20:13 GMT

April 13, 2026 By Sourav Banerjee for Chem Week

US microbial products company BioConsortia’s senior vice-president of business development, Sarah Reiter, discusses the firm’s plans in the biologicals sector with S&P Global Energy’s Crop Science team.

Crop Science (CS): What have been BioConsortia’s highlights in terms of biological deals in the past year? Will the business continue looking for collaboration opportunities in 2026?

Sarah Reiter

Sarah Reiter (SR): Our business model relies on partnerships. We are exclusively focused on the science side, and we come to market through collaborations. In your conversation with our chief executive officer, Marcus Meadows-Smith, in 2024, he spoke about the company’s partnership with US potassium and phosphatic fertilizer business The Mosaic Company for the nitrogen-fixing seed treatment, AlwaysN (patented strains of Paenibacillusspp). The firm will launch the product in Brazil and the US soon.

We also launched AlwaysN products in New Zealand last year through a commercial agreement with Feilding-based seed business H&T, which focuses on adding value through seed treatments. They have had a very impressive uptake of the AlwaysN technology since its introduction in early 2025. They found strong traction in cereals and in some crops we did not expect, like pasture crops.

Lastly, we signed a biostimulant discovery deal with a company this year, as we continue to ink partnerships throughout the value chain globally, regionally, and locally. We are involved in a slew of deals, from commercial agreements to discovery projects. It’s been a busy year!

CS: You have an ongoing development deal with US non-crop pesticide professional solutions business Envu. How prominently does the non-crop environmental science sector feature within BioConsortia’s operations?

SR: Within our pipeline, our core focus remains on the four ‘Fs’ – food, feed, fuel, and fiber crops. We see Envu as a really interesting partner because they service markets with those technologies that we do not have a lot of insight into. Most of our leadership team comes from agriculture and crop protection, though some of us have spent time in the non-crop science markets.

As a result, it is hard for us to know how to precisely develop high-performing products without insights from partners like Envu. We love those partnerships, and in fact, rely on those across all of the markets we service. We provide the technology with consistent, repeatable performance backed by data and intellectual property (IP), while relying on partners who know their consumers. This includes growers, golf course superintendents, or just someone who is trying to control home and garden pests.

Our partners know their consumers deeply. We rely on their insights to help direct the last stage of development and position it for the market. Envu is a great example of that process.

CS: What new biological products were launched by BioConsortia in 2025? Furthermore, did the company expand to new global markets?

SR: We have previously disclosed a commercial partnership with Nichino America, which is launching our foliar fungicide, Amara (Bacillus velezensis), for the fruits and vegetables market. We hope to expand the product to additional geographies. We also have a pipeline of several biocontrol products, including bionematicides, bioinsecticides, and biofungicides in the form of seed treatments and soil applications. There are certain related announcements from BioConsortia planned for 2026, as we continue to develop new technologies in our pipeline.

Coming to our major markets, we know the US market best as we are headquartered in California. However, we are actively pursuing collaborations in Brazil, alongside investing heavily in the development of our nitrogen fixing and biostimulants portfolio in the EU. We will be targeting cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, oilseed rape, and other crops in Europe. Furthermore, we believe that we have a unique nitrogen fixing strain that performs well in rice that supports discussions for the Asian market. We also have nematicides that are effective in cotton and rice, making Asia a great target market for us.

In all regions that we service, we do it with partners who know the market best. We help them with localization that we have done centrally, while they do field trials to prove that the products fit their markets. Then we collaborate to ensure that the regulatory schemes get completed.

CS: Last time we spoke, you mentioned that BioConsortia has a rich product pipeline, with the focus entirely on developing your own products. Could you highlight some promising solutions that are in the pipeline?

SR: We are very focused on microbials, especially on spore-forming microbes. Our focus is narrow because, as part of their natural lifecycles, our targeted microbials form an exospore as part of the fermentation process. This exospore protects them from degradation in the environment and the packaging, so we end up with products have a very compelling shelf life – usually greater than two years at ambient temperatures. We believe that we have the only nitrogen-fixing products that can penetrate the industrial corn (maize) seeds market because those get treated approximately two years before they get sold to the farmers. The microbe needs to be able to live alongside all the chemistries on the surface of the seed even before it gets in the grower’s hands.

Our core focus makes us the leading gene editing company working with spore-forming microbes. Because we’ve focused, we’ve developed deep skills and proprietary tools that concentrate on looking into the genome of these spore-forming microbes, helping us understand their potential fit as biocontrol products or biostimulants. For markets that are accepting, we then use our gene editing tools to edit those microbes and improve their use. This product pipeline includes nitrogen-fixing offerings, biocontrol and biostimulants for a wide array of crops.

Our pipeline is also very focused on climate impacts. Unlike some other companies that prioritize stressors such as heat and drought, we are focused on cold-related impacts. We have seen a lot of challenges at the beginning of the season, where soil-borne diseases and pests can sometimes outcompete protective microbes because of low temperatures. We believe that our products can improve the crop’s ability to be resilient in the face of cold-climate stress.

Alongside those technologies, we have the most compelling bionematicide pipeline in the industry. We have six products that have all been shown to perform better than those on the market today. And, our pipeline of gene-edited biocontrol products is important because we have seen a lot of chemistries exit the market in recent years. The departure of neonicotinoids from many markets makes the bioinsecticides pipeline particularly compelling. We know there is going to be an emergence of more insect pests, and we would like to be able to bridge that gap with our products. Our scientists are quickly working with gene editing tools to build a spectrum of insect controls that growers need in order to be to be an alternative for the neonicotinoid seed treatments, or even some of the systemic insecticides.

CS: BioConsortia has raised proceeds through a series of recurring financing from its internal investors totalling some $100 million. What are the focus areas for the funding in 2026?

SR: We continue to focus on our research and development. Alongside that, we are beginning to invest more in globalization efforts. As I mentioned before, we are scaling in European markets. We have a regulatory project under way that will get our nitrogen fixers and biostimulants registered in Europe, as well as some new crops, beginning this year. That is super exciting. It is very expensive as well. So, we are building out supply chains and logistic functions. We have increasingly started to need those in the past couple of years.

And we expect rapid growth as we roll into 2026. We expect to grow rapidly beginning this year as we launch technologies that have been graduating from our pipeline in the next couple of years. You should see growth in our commercial, supply chain and logistics teams as they will be feeling the pressure to get our products to global partners who intend to sell them in different markets. To summarize: we continue to invest in our R&D engine and are increasingly investing in the commercialization component.

CS: What role does artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven agriculture play in BioConsortia’s R&D pipeline?

SR: We continue to evaluate AI, large language models (LLMs), and large data handling tools to see how they can best fit our processes. We analyze a vast amount of genomic data. Alongside that, in our greenhouses, we leverage a plant phenotyping scanner, PlantEye, which is a robot that looks at individual plants to record minor changes. All of this spins out a huge amount of data. We have built a proprietary system called GenePro, which houses all our genomic data. It is used to select strains for development and improvement.

We have a set of proprietary tools that we use for gene editing to ensure our products are efficacious and safe through thousands of field trials. For corn, we have more than 10 seasons of nitrogen fixation field research, combining data collected in northern and southern US regions.

However, the most compelling process we leverage is not AI, but ‘biological intelligence’. The initial part of our funnel starts with a process called Advanced Microbial Selection (AMS), where we basically allow plants to select the microbiomes that best protect against targeted stresses through their own innate intelligence. We take thousands of soil samples in very small pots, then plant a variety of crops into them. By adding stressors like pests, removing nitrogen or phosphate, starving them of water, or putting them under extreme cold, the process makes plants select the microbiome that best protects them. For example, when you start with 1,000 pots, maybe five survive. Which means those five recruited something in their microbiome that protected them from the stressors.

We follow this process by harvesting that microbiome and inoculating the next generation of plants, adding stressors again. We are forcing evolution on that soil microbiome with repeat generations until all plants start robustly growing and have a microbiome that is protecting them from a specific stress. Only at that point do we care what was in the microbiome and identify through our genomics tools what was driving the protective effect. But really, the plants are making that decision. We use data tools to facilitate that work. With new AI tools seemingly becoming accessible on a weekly basis, we are looking at how to deploy various solutions to optimize that performance and give us a faster throughput.

CS: What are the key crops where you see the biggest opportunity for development?

SR: Since we rely on the process I just described to find microbes, there are a large number of solutions that are fit to become seed treatments or be used in soil. We focus on row crops, like corn, soybeans, cotton and rice, but also on vegetable crops like potatoes and tomatoes. Meanwhile, we are increasingly seeing our products fit into crops like pasture and sugar cane. Our nitrogen fixing technologies, which started with corn and soybeans and bridged that gap through to rice and cotton, are making their way into additional crops.

Any crop that struggles to get enough fertilizers is a great target for us. That struggle materializes in a couple of ways. It can come because some places have ecological constraints on the amount of nitrogen fertilizers you can apply, while some markets do not have physical access to all the fertilizers that they could be using to fully optimize yields. Some fields suffer from loss of applied fertilizer because of run-off or volatilization.

Furthermore, as we think about what crops we can serve in the future, we do not see any crops that are outside of our reach. The question for us is: ‘how do we develop tools to make our contributions to those crops as profitable for growers as possible, and as easy to integrate as possible?’ That’s been our focus. We feel like growers are most likely to adopt technologies that don’t force them to change their behaviors. We are, frankly, giving ourselves a huge challenge by trying to make products that can be easily adopted, stored, transported, and used in low volumes to create meaningful profits for growers.

Another challenge is keeping ourselves from expanding too quickly, as we can always expand to more crops and geographies. These are the questions we ask ourselves internally. We are still a small company; we cannot be everywhere. Where should we go first? That is the challenge we face every morning.

CS: Is the regulatory climate for biologicals improving in the EU with its Parliament considering a faster biologicals approvals regime?

SR: EU regulations involving biologicals have been a long-time negative. I am definitely not alone in identifying the EU’s historical rules as being slow. We are hopeful that the discussions at the parliamentary level will result in a biocontrol regulatory scheme that improves pace and enables the EU to keep up with the other regulatory bodies around the world. We have seen good progress from the bloc in the biostimulants space and are hopeful that they can learn from that and see similar benefits for biocontrols.

The US has been operating with a scheme for biocontrols since 1994. The country has really shown the way. Recently, Brazil has accelerated their biologicals regulatory processes. These are places we can all learn from in terms of the way they have advanced the adoption of biologicals innovation by restructuring the regulatory models and by incentivizing it through government investments. It is an interesting time for Europe. I hope that they find their way to maneuver regulations that enable some more pace.

CS: Will the uncertainty regarding the promotion of sustainability in agriculture in the US create problems for domestic crop protection businesses?

SR: I was raised in California. We have water challenges, but we farm incredibly well in a water-contained environment. Sustainability for BioConsortia has always meant making food protection better for the environment, but also for the people who live in and operate those agri-ecosystems. We are very committed to making products, like the Amara fungicide, that offer a safer alternative to chemical pesticides for the people.

We make products that have a better outcome for animals, as well as for aquatic species in our water systems. It’s clear that too much nitrogen is flowing off farmlands and into our waterways, which has a harmful effect. We can do better. We do not feel any pressure to curb that message. In fact, we see an acceleration based on consumer and government behavior in North America, Europe, Asia, and Brazil.

The other factor we care intensely about is families of growers. Farms have to be profitable, whether by improving yield or by reducing costs, and farmers have to be able to survive. That has not changed, it will always resonate. There are market changes that farmers are suffering from, but I am certain that those will work themselves out. We really see an important role for innovation to move past these kinds of changes that are disruptive. That’s the role that we endeavor to play.

What brings us to work every day is that commitment to sustainability, and that has not changed in the 14 years that we have been a company. Furthermore, as our products get into the hands of growers in new markets, they prove themselves to be super inventive and find value in our products in places we could not have imagined ourselves. For example, farmers in New Zealand have found a strong fit for our nitrogen fixing products with legumes, especially with ones that fix their own nitrogen. This was unexpected but we see the value now that growers have made it work. So, we are going to keep focused on that sustainability commitment

CS: What are the implications of the new Biologicals Law in Brazil for global crop protection companies? Do you see other global regulators following suit?

SR: Boy, I hope so! I hope it leads to other regulators following suit. The Law was designed to treat biologicals differently from traditional pesticides and fertilizers. That makes sense because they are different from conventionals – they have unique characteristics, production methods and a reduced risk profile. The Law seeks to reduce complexity while maintaining safety. None of the safety standards were diminished, but the complexity of compliance was reduced. That was incredibly insightful on Brazilian regulators’ part.

What we at BioConsortia, and I suspect the larger industry, like about the regulations is that there is a lot of clarity in the rules. The new law is predictable, understandable, and clear. For those that are bringing products under Brazilian regulation, that clarity is hugely important and highly beneficial. We have certainty about the process when we make investments in our innovations. We know how they are going to go through those processes, the exact data we need to deliver, and how regulators are going to approach our products. Ambiguity in other parts of the world results in a very challenging investment premise. So yes, I hope the rest of the world follows the move.

The US had historically led the way in these developments with unique biocontrol regulations that had been very successful. However, I think it has started suffering from the success, in that there are too many products coming through the regulatory pipeline, while it is a little backed up unfortunately. We hope that, as the US government continues to focus on ‘Making America Healthy Again’, that extends to accelerating the EPA’s Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division’s (BPPD) biocontrol pipeline for better efficiency and we can get products regulated according to the legal timelines.

CS: To what extent does the global tariffs’ volatility impact the biologicals sector compared with its conventional counterpart?

SR: The biologicals sector is huge and diverse, covering everything from minerals to plant extracts. Our company focuses on microbials, so I’ll answer from that perspective. In our case, we do not own our own capacity, we toll everything we produce. For us, we have always employed a model where we are manufacturing in the US initially. Then, when we open to another market, sales will be based on products that we moved there from the US. That is what we are doing with New Zealand. But very quickly, the economics of shipping a large quantity of materials, which could be made locally, stops making sense.

Beginning in 2026, we will be tolling in various countries. What’s great about that is that there are fabulous tolling providers in Australia, Brazil, China, India, and Europe. We see ourselves as well-served by manufacturing tolling and fermentation partners. We will continue to look at what the tariff implications are for some of the ingredients that become our products.

The microbial strains we manage are proprietary. We manage the actual microbial strains themselves, but we rely on carbohydrate sources and energy to make our products. As a result, we are continuously evaluating our access to and the costs of carbohydrates and energy. Those two things are directly correlated with how much our products cost to make, and therefore, to our profitability and the prices at which we sell downstream.

The last thing we are increasingly aware of these days is currency changes. The US dollar has been moving up and down recently. We keep track of currency as an implication to our profitability as well.

Latin America’s Plant Health Momentum: Innovation, Adoption, and Opportunity - BioConsortia

BioConsortia — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 23:46:19 GMT

As global agriculture searches for solutions that boost productivity while managing climate and input challenges, Latin America has emerged as a dynamic market for plant health products. From biologicals and biostimulants to biofertilizers and microbial seed treatments, adoption across the region is accelerating – driven by grower familiarity, regulatory clarity, and the need for resilient yield solutions.

These themes were front and center in a recent episode of the AgriBusiness Global Report, which featured Sarah Reiter, EVP at BioConsortia. During the conversation, Reiter shared insights into why Latin America continues to outpace other regions in plant health adoption and where the greatest opportunities lie in the years ahead.

Read full article at Agribusiness Global here.

AgriBusiness Global Report: Sarah Reiter of BioConsortia Talks Plant Health Trends in LATAM - BioConsortia

BioConsortia — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 20:35:25 GMT

Sarah Reiter, EVP at BioConsortia, discusses the status of the plant health segment in LATAM, in what markets these products are becoming more prevalent, what the regulatory framework looks like, and where the segment may grow over the next several years.

Meet 4 chemistry start-ups navigating uncertainty in the Trump era - BioConsortia

BioConsortia — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:31:54 GMT

Policy changes are reshaping the way New Iridium, American Battery Technology, BioConsortia, and Calcarea operate and innovate

Since January, the founders of chemistry start-ups have been trying to keep their balance as the ground has shifted beneath their feet.

The re-election of Donald J. Trump heralded sweeping changes to science and technology policy in the US. Major tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act for sustainable chemical technologies are on their way out. Hundreds of grants for clean technology projects are under review. US tariffs, and retaliatory tariffs on US goods, have shaken global supply chains. Amid all the change, private investors have become more cautious.

The Trump administration is prioritizing support for some areas of clean technology, like critical minerals. But as the government is easing the permitting process for certain mines, it’s simultaneously removing support for industries, such as electric vehicles, that use the minerals being extracted from the ground.

For many cleantech start-ups, the 30,000-foot view is bleak. But the impact of these changes is not spread evenly, and understanding their day-to-day impact requires a magnifying glass. In the following vignettes, leaders from four US chemistry start-ups explain how they are navigating uncertainty in the Trump era.

Read the full article here,

BioConsortia Closes Financing to Accelerate Launch of Next-Generation Nitrogen-Fixing Biofertilizer and Fuel Global Expansion - BioConsortia

BioConsortia — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 19:55:38 GMT

Game-changing Always-N™ product poised to transform industrial corn production with sustainable, gene-edited microbes

Davis, CA – BioConsortia, Inc., a leader in microbial innovation for sustainable agriculture, announced today it has secured $15 million in funding from its long-standing internal investors…

Read full article here: https://www.agribusinessreview.com/news/bioconsortia-closes-financing-to-accelerate-launch-of-nextgeneration-nitrogenfixing-biofertilizer-and-fuel-global-expansion-nwid-1849.html

Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria - BioConsortia

BioConsortia — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 17:57:40 GMT

Dr. Thomas Williams, BioConsortia Inc., examines new seed-borne approaches to optimize seasonal fertilizer performance in cereals and other agricultural crops.

To read the full article from the March 2025 issue of World Fertilizer Magazine, please click here for the PDF.

Envu partners with BioConsortia to develop biological solutions - BioConsortia

BioConsortia — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 22:33:23 GMT

Published Mar 5, 2025

Envu, a global environmental science company aiming to provide solutions that protect and enhance the health of environments around the world, formed a new partnership with BioConsortia, an innovator in microbial crop solutions, to evaluate and develop biological solutions for non-crop applications in the environmental science industry.

According to the company, this collaboration reflects the currently growing demand for sustainable alternatives for pest management and plant protection, driven by consumer demand and increasing regulatory pressures. By pairing BioConsortia’s technology with the product commercialization experience at Envu, the partnership plans to meet these growing needs.

“Biological solutions are a critical part of our sustainability commitment to nature-positive innovation,” said Bernard Jacqmin, head of global innovation for Envu. “Through our work with BioConsortia, we hope to enhance our portfolio with forward-thinking innovations that complement existing modes of action. For our customers, this means an expanded range of sustainable solutions to help them meet their toughest challenges.”

STRATEGIC COLLABORATION
The collaboration between BioConsortia and Envu supports the companies’ objectives and shared vision of driving innovation to balance the needs of society and nature while providing solutions for customers.

BioConsortia uses its patented Advanced Microbial Selection (AMS) process and GenePro platform, along with advanced genomics techniques, for the discovery, design and selection of microbes. These technologies allow the company to effectively predict and harness the natural power of microbes.

Envu is leveraging its track record in technology development and commercialization in the environmental science space along with its global reach and understanding of regulatory landscapes and customer needs to accelerate the adoption of biological solutions in environmental science markets.

“For BioConsortia, this is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate our dedication to biocontrol innovation and bring our cutting-edge technologies into new markets,” said Hong Zhu, Ph.D., senior vice president of research and development for BioConsortia. “The expertise found at Envu in non-crop sectors, like professional pest management and turf and ornamentals, makes them the perfect partner to help us accelerate market entry and scale solutions that reduce environmental impact.”

EXPANDED COMMITMENT TO BIOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS
In the 2024 season, Envu tested advanced biological candidates from BioConsortia’s pipeline, and they yielded promising results, according to the company. The partnership will move forward with select candidates in 2025 while continuing to explore additional technologies in the development pipeline.

Originally published at: https://www.landscapemanagement.net/envu-partners-with-bioconsortia-to-develop-biological-solutions/

BioConsortia and H&T Partner to Reduce Synthetic Nitrogen Use in NZ Using Microbial Seed Treatment - BioConsortia

BioConsortia — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 20:39:16 GMT

DAVIS, CA, February 11, 2025 – BioConsortia, Inc., a California based leader in agricultural technology, specializing in advanced microbial solutions to enhance crop productivity and reduce agriculture’s ecological impact, has announced a commercial agreement with New Zealand-based seed company Hodder and Taylors Ltd (H&T). H&T, known for improving crop and forage systems on New Zealand farms, will introduce BioConsortia’s AlwaysN microbial seed treatment during the 2025 season. This innovative seed treatment will be available for maize, cereals, brassicas and pasture seed, helping growers reduce nitrogen losses and environmental impact while maintaining yield.

Since 2023, BioConsortia and H&T have conducted successful field trials in New Zealand, demonstrating nitrogen-replacement results consistent with earlier trials conducted since 2021 in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Europe.

Paul Oliver, H&T Managing Director, stated, “This technology offers a new opportunity to reduce nitrogen fertiliser use in New Zealand agriculture, delivering both economic and environmental benefits while maintaining crop performance.”

Marcus Meadows-Smith, CEO of BioConsortia, added, “Our proprietary microbes effectively colonise crop roots, ensuring there is always nitrogen available to influence crop yield. These microbes remain active in the root zone throughout the growing season, converting atmospheric nitrogen into plant-accessible forms even after synthetic fertilisers dissipate.”

Setting a New Standard for Shelf Stability and Seed Life

BioConsortia’s nitrogen-fixing seed treatments boast a shelf life exceeding two years and maintain on-seed stability for an additional two years, far surpassing industry norms.

“Our use of Gram-positive microbes, known for their inherent stability and reliability as root colonisers, underpins this breakthrough,” explained Dr. Hong Zhu, Senior VP of R&D at BioConsortia. “Through our proprietary R&D platform, we’ve unlocked the nitrogen-fixing potential of these microbes, creating ideal candidates for seed treatment products.”

Revolutionary Microbial Discovery Engine

BioConsortia’s flexible microbe discovery platform played a pivotal role in this innovation. Given New Zealand’s regulatory restrictions on gene-edited organisms, BioConsortia identified wild-type microbes from its extensive library that naturally fix nitrogen. These microbes, with intrinsic genetic traits enabling nitrogen fixation, deliver reliable yield performance.

A Game-Changing Innovation in Agriculture

Combining cutting-edge discovery and advanced gene-editing capabilities, BioConsortia’s platform represents a breakthrough in microbial seed and fertiliser treatments. “Our seed-applied products offer unmatched ease of use for growers, ensuring strong yields without relying on increased synthetic nitrogen,” said Meadows-Smith.

The collaboration between BioConsortia and H&T marks a significant step forward in sustainable agriculture, providing New Zealand farmers with tools to achieve higher productivity and reduced environmental impact.

ABOUT BIOCONSORTIA

BioConsortia, Inc. develops transformative microbial products in agriculture, pioneering the use of directed selection and advanced genomics techniques within microbial communities. BioConsortia’s microbial products deliver superior efficacy, higher consistency, and easier grower adoption because of their focus on microbes that deliver extended shelf- and on-seed life. The company’s rich biological pipeline includes nitrogen fixation microbes to replace or reduce synthetic nitrogen fertilisers; nutrient use efficiency and biostimulants to increase crop yields; and bionematicides and biofungicides to protect crops from pests and diseases. BioConsortia’s patented Advanced Microbial Selection (AMS) process and cutting-edge GenePro platform enable the company to predict, design, and unleash the natural power of microbes.

For further information, please contact info@bioconsortia.com.

ABOUT H&T

H&T is a New Zealand seed company that specialises in developing new seed technologies to improve productive and environmental outcomes. H&T supplies seed and crop management solutions to farmers with a focus on pasture, forage, maize and arable crops. H&T’s agronomists are dedicated to working with farmers to improve the profitability of animal production systems while reducing emissions and nutrient loss. H&T has successfully developed patented seed treatments such as Optimised® and Rappel® to improve crop yield and nutrient efficiency as well as providing crop establishment in the presence of pests.

For further information, please contact Paul Oliver paulo@hnt.co.nz