IALR and LiveGrow Bio have partnered to develop biostimulant and biocontrol solutions for agriculture. Pending successful testing, the potential new products could enter production, offering growers natural, healthy alternatives to chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
“The agricultural biologicals market is growing rapidly as farmers are seeking synthetic, chemical-free solutions,” said Mark Gignac, IALR Executive Director. “This collaboration represents the next step in taking our endophytes to market.”
Dr. Chuansheng Mei, IALR’s Chief Scientist, works with endophytes, or beneficial plant bacteria, which will be combined with LiveGrow Bio’s platform to develop biological solutions for agriculture.
As part of the agreement, IALR will provide LiveGrow Bio some of their plant endophytes, or beneficial bacteria, collected, characterized and researched by IALR’s Plant Endophyte Research Center. These endophytes serve as biostimulants, which naturally stimulate plant growth and health, reduce the need for chemical fertilizer use and offer sustainable agricultural solutions. LiveGrow Bio will provide a unique, low-cost production and formulation platform. Of particular advantage, the platform can accommodate hard-to-formulate and -store biologicals based on Gram-negative bacteria, which provides an effective storage and delivery solution while meeting the needs of the end user.
“Establishing high-value and mutually beneficial partnerships such as this represents an important next step in bringing our natural biological solutions to the market,” said Dr. Scott Lowman, Director of Applied Research at IALR.
The two teams will combine IALR’s endophytes with LiveGrow’s platform and test the potential products on both the east and west coasts to ensure efficacy across diverse environments. Once successful combinations are found, commercialization will be explored, leading to availability to growers. To learn more about IALR, please visit ialr.org/plant-endophyte-research-center.
