Mosaic and BioConsortia expand nitrogen fixing microbial products to Asia markets

The Mosaic Company and BioConsortia, Inc. have entered into a new agreement to develop and launch nitrogen fixing microbial products for all crops, including corn, wheat, rice, fruit and vegetables in China, India, Thailand and Vietnam.

Nitrogen fixing microbial products for non-legume crops hold the promise to dramatically decrease the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. BioConsortia’s microbes naturally fix atmospheric nitrogen, converting it to ammonia, and make it available to the crops during the growing season, thereby reducing growers’ reliance on the addition of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. Almost 50% of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are lost to the environment, often with unintended and harmful consequences, and contribute about 5% of global CO2 emissions through their energy-intensive production. These nitrogen fixing microbial products are natural, and represent a beneficial breakthrough for the growers, consumers and the planet.

Mosaic and BioConsortia announced a collaboration to develop these same nitrogen fixing products for the Americas at the end of 2020. Following a year of great progress from lab and greenhouse, and very encouraging results from our first year of field trials on corn and wheat in the United States and Canada, the companies have decided to expand the relationship to major Asian countries where Mosaic has direct go-to-market operations.    

Quantifying the effects of nutrient stress on the roots of row crops. Source: BioConsortia

Kim Nicholson, Mosaic Vice President Ag Technology and Innovation, Strategy and Growth declared, “Our growers have asked for easy-to-use and cost-effective alternatives to synthetic nitrogen fertilizers that can increase their productivity and profits. After the success we saw in lab, greenhouse and field trials last year, we are thrilled over the potential to offer these products to our customers in Asia markets. At Mosaic, our mission is to help the world grow the food it needs, so this is another step in helping us do just that.”.

Marcus Meadows-Smith, BioConsortia CEO, stated, “Mosaic has demonstrated they are an outstanding partner. They have an exceptional team that understands crop nutrition and have a commitment to develop and fully exploit our nitrogen fixing microbes. We are very excited to expand our collaboration to these key Asian markets. We are certain Mosaic will do a fabulous job.”

BioConsortia’s nitrogen fixing microbes are also applied as seed treatments and in-furrow for row crops, and as drench and through drip irrigation for fruit and vegetables. They are robust, easy-to-use and have a two-year shelf-life. Growers can use with reduced amounts of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and increase their crop yields.

BioConsortia greenhouseexperiment assaying microbe lead performance across multiple crops. Source: BioConsortia