• Field trial results confirm seed treatment products with “Always-N” nitrogen-fixing microbes increase yields in row crops like wheat and corn over full fertilizer;
• BioConsortia seed treatment formulations continue to demonstrate a high level of shelf-stability and seed stability and safety, surpassing competitive nitrogen-fixing technologies.

BioConsortia, Inc., a leading agricultural technology company that discovers, designs and licenses advanced microbial products to reduce the ecological impacts of agriculture while ensuring crop productivity, today announced that the Company has further developed its nitrogen-fixing products in row crops, demonstrating through hundreds of field trials conducted in 2023 that the products effectively displace meaningful levels of nitrogen fertilizer and deliver yield gains.

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BioConsortia's Nitrogen Fixing microbes (shown in green) survive on corn seed for up to 2 years. After planting, they colonize the germinating seedling and grow alongside the corn roots, fixing nitrogen in the root zone throughout the season. (Graphic: Business Wire)

“Always-N” microbes exceed performance expectations and demonstrate fit in a wide variety of crops

2023 field trial results have confirmed that levels of nitrogen-replacement from BioConsortia’s seed treatment products met or exceeded performance expectations when evaluated in row crops like corn, wheat, rice and cotton. This important step confirms the potential market for BioConsortia’s nitrogen-fixing products and their impact in addressing the environmental impacts of fertilizer runoff and overuse in crops around the world.

According to Marcus Meadows-Smith, Bio Consortia CEO, “This technology, based on proprietary microbes that effectively colonize the roots of a wide variety of crops, enables growers to optimize their fertilizer use strategy. Since the microbes remain in the root zone throughout the growing season, they ensure there is always nitrogen available to influence crop yield. Even when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer has dissipated, these microbes are still working to convert nitrogen from the air to a form easily taken up by plants.”

Shelf-stability and on-seed life outperform the industry

BioConsortia’s nitrogen-fixing seed products are shelf-stable and seed-stable for more than two years, setting a new standard for nitrogen-fixation products.

“We can offer the extended shelf- and seed-life products because our platform is focused on Gram-positive microbes,” explained Dr. Hong Zhu, SVP of R&D at BioConsortia. “We made our job as microbial product designers much more complex because Gram-positive microbes are not generally known for their nitrogen-fixing functionality. We used our proprietary R&D platform to discover and improve the nitrogen-fixing capabilities of Gram-positive microbes. We have demonstrated they are inherently stable and reliable root colonizers, making them ideal for seed treatment products.”

Long-term stability enables new product concepts

The stability of BioConsortia’s proprietary microbes when applied to the surface of fertilizer granules has now been shown to extend beyond 40 months. This opens new application opportunities including in-season side-dress or in-furrow uses.

BioConsortia believes the platform represents the technological breakthrough in microbial seed and fertilizer treatments that will enable the ultimate promise of easy-to-use and highly effective nitrogen-fixation microbes. CEO Marcus Meadows-Smith added, “Products that are delivered in the seed bag or alongside fertilizer give the grower ultimate ease to increase yields without increasing synthetic nitrogen.”

BioConsortia will participate in the Bank of America Global Agriculture and Materials Conference, February 28-29, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and will be available for individual meetings. BioConsortia will also participate at Commodity Classic, February 28 – March 3, 2024, in Houston, Texas.

ABOUT BIOCONSORTIA

BioConsortia, Inc. develops superior microbial products that protect plants, enhance fertility, and increase yields while improving the sustainability of agriculture for our environment. Pioneering the use of directed selection within microbial communities, our patented Advanced Microbial Selection (AMS) process and cutting-edge GenePro genomics and gene-engineering platform enable us to predict, design, and unleash the natural power of microbes.

BioConsortia’s microbial products deliver superior efficacy, higher consistency, and easier grower adoption. Our rich pipeline includes nitrogen fixation microbes to replace synthetic nitrogen fertilizers; nutrient use efficiency and biostimulants to increase crop yields; bionematicides & biofungicides to protect crops from pests and diseases; and products for post-harvest pathogen control to safeguard food waste in the distribution chain, retail store and home. BioConsortia is producing breakthrough solutions for growers in major agricultural markets with multiple environmental benefits.

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