Why haven’t microbial products been more widely adopted by farmers?
Posted 14th October 2020 by Joshua Sewell
This is a question that drives me each day. Microbial products have been around for a long time; starting with rhizobium in legumes, dating back 125 years. Yet, in the United States, rhizobium inoculants have not been widely adopted by soybean farmers – some indicate less than 15% use overall in the United States. Why?
Managing plant stress in the era of climate change: Realising global sustainable development goals
Posted 17th February 2020 by Liv Sewell
Dr Salme Timusk was the first to show that native soil bacteria have the ability to protect plants against drought conditions. Salme writes here about plant microbiome interaction studies: how they can facilitate plant health and contribute to solutions for climate change.
A regulatory roadmap for the commercialization of microbial products for agriculture
Posted 4th October 2019 by Joshua Sewell
A major paradigm shift in agricultural production is required to meet the demands of a global world population projected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050. We have to increase crop productivity sustainably while preserving biodiversity, natural resources, and grower income in the context of climate change. To optimize sustainable productivity and profitability on farms, grasslands, and forests, scientists and growers must embrace a holistic, systems-level approach and focus on the complexity within phytobiomes.
Developing Live Microbial Products with Science Driven Understanding
Posted 29th March 2019 by Joshua Sewell
Günter Welz is part of the Open Innovation and Strategic Partnerships department at Bayer. He scouts for and builds relationships with external innovators in academia and business to enrich Bayer’s R&D pipeline, using various tools like the Open Innovation website and the venture capital arm.
The Case and Need for a Digital Health Ecosystem
Posted 6th December 2017 by Jane Williams
The current healthcare climate is on the brink of a long overdue makeover. The clinical research industry has been increasingly plagued by a resistance to change and is subsequently feeling the pain of this reluctance to modify its approach. Indicative of this trend are the rising prices of drug and medical device development, declining patient retention and adherence in clinical research, mounting administrative burdens, and exponentially growing expenses for clinical research that are unsustainable.
