The use of beneficial microbes in agriculture is projected to increase. The discovery of novel strains of microbes that can enhance crop protection through increased nitrogen fixation, water use efficiency, phosphorous solubilization, disease and insect resistance and other yield enhancement parameters may improve crop production as well as agricultural sustainability.
The use of more microbes requires new formulation, stabilization and delivery technologies. While the agriculture industry has a long history in being able to formulate and deliver crop protection chemicals, microbes tend to be inherently more difficult to formulate and stabilize for long periods of time. Moreover, with the desire to deliver microbes on seeds, consideration must be given to achieving long-term stability of microbes when used in conjunction with traditional crop protection chemistries as well as the myriad of additives used in the seed treatment process.
ABN recognizes the challenges that must be met in formulating delivering highly stable agricultural biologicals to farmers and producers. The following slide set provides examples of ABN technology applied to Rhizobia sp.—a commonly used bacteria involved in nitrogen fixation in leguminous crops such as soybeans. The technology has also been applied to numerous other microbes of interest in agriculture.