Marrone Bio Innovations and Groundwork BioAg sign seed treatment development agreement

The US biopesticide company Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc.  (MBI) and Groundwork BioAg, Ltd  (GBA) recently announced a collaboration to create and commercialize the world’s first all-biological comprehensive seed treatment.  The treatment is expected to contain a mycorrhizal biostimulant from GBA as well as a bioinsecticide, a bionematicide, and a biofungicide from MBI.

Currently, there are successful commercial seed treatments that contain chemical insecticides, fungicides, and nematicides for row crops such as corn and soybean.  There are also a limited number of successful seed treatments that contain both biologicals and chemicals.  However, none of the existing seed treatments contain an all-biological stack of insecticides, fungicides, nematicides, and biostimulants.  The proposed product is expected to enhance crop yield and reduce fertilizer requirements (especially phosphorus), while controlling soil-dwelling pests and plant diseases.  This comprehensive solution has the potential to provide a wide scope of benefits to growers (conventional and organic alike), without the adverse effects of certain chemical inputs. The first efforts of the collaboration – seeds treated with GBA’s mycorrhizae and MBI’s microbials are in field trials on corn and on soybean in the U.S. Midwest and in Israel.

The Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD), a foundation that supports and encourages cooperation between Israeli and U.S. companies in various areas of technology, selected the collaboration for matching funding.  MBI notes that it has another project, a previously announced collaboration with Evogene, also partially funded by BIRD.

Dr. Pam Marrone, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Marrone Bio Innovations, commented, “We are excited to announce what we regard as a key MBI objective – a development agreement for a fully biological seed treatment solution.  We believe that this project has the potential for high impact in the seed treatment market in general across a broad range of crops, and, in particular, can meet an unaddressed need for the rapidly growing organic grain segment.  We are exceptionally pleased to partner with GBA and to receive additional validation regarding the promise of this technology from the BIRD Foundation.”

Dr. Yossi Kofman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Groundwork BioAg, added, “We expect farmers to embrace an all-biological cost-effective seed treatment that offers value to their operations through increased yields, fertilizer savings, and effective pest and disease control – without the worry of regulatory restrictions, handling hazards, and non-target toxicity of some chemical pesticides.  MBI, an innovative biopesticide market leader, was a natural choice for us as a strategic partner.”

While industry estimates vary, the companies estimate the global seed treatment market at $4.2 billion, growing at a compound annual rate of 10% over the next five years.  Insecticides currently hold the largest share of this market and the crop protection category is expected to be the fastest growing segment over the next several years.  Both companies noted that they are continuing to pursue, on their own or with other partners, other solutions for the fast-growing seed treatment market.