Eurofins Agroscience Services – Contributing To the Development of Sustainable Agricultural Practices

In recent years, a number of significant sustainability strategies have emerged on a global scale, such as the EU Green Deal and The Long-Term Strategy of the United States.  Largely in response to the Paris Agreement, these strategies are designed to achieve the goals of said agreement and offset a broad range of challenging environmental issues. 

Sustainable agricultural practices will be a major focus of global food production.

It is no secret that today, the world faces many challenges, and one of them is the ability to produce enough healthy food for a growing global population, and in a sustainable manner.  Eurofins Agroscience Services (EAS) is part of the solution, providing a complete portfolio of services to support seed and crop health.

In partnership with our clients, we support product development and innovation in seed breeding, crop protection, farming practices, and post-harvest management tools.

Contributing to sustainable agricultural practice by providing scientific evidence as a basis for well-informed decision making, we support agrochemical manufacturers, seed and fertiliser producers, regulatory authorities, and the communities they represent, working with synthetic pesticides, biological products, ag-tech, seeds, and more, at all stages of the product life cycle.

In recent years, the industry has witnessed a real shift towards the development of biological crop health solutions known as ‘bio-solutions’, which use natural substances and microorganisms rather than synthetic alternatives.  The effects and modes of action are different to those of traditional chemistry and need to be assessed and evaluated in different ways. We have consistently adapted our services to meet these changing needs, ensuring specialists are fully equipped to deal with these important new products that impact our environment on a much lesser scale than chemical alternatives.

Regulatory environment

The regulatory aspect of registering any new product is hugely important, including those derived from biological substances.  

Eurofins Agroscience Regulatory (EAR), EAS’ in-house regulatory group, provides comprehensive support to companies developing biologicals, addressing the specific challenges associated with these products. They help optimise study designs, conduct field trials, facilitate regulatory processes, assess environmental impacts, and offer specialised expertise, ultimately contributing to the successful development and market approval of biological crop health products. 

Playing an active role in the regulatory science community, we proactively support ag-tech start-ups, assessing their new technologies and helping their development.

An EAR expert comments, ″With a burst of R&D in the bio-solutions sector, we are seeing that regulatory support is a crucial success factor through all stages of the process.

″We are dedicated to being a reliable, cost-effective partner for innovative start-ups developing such products, during the preparation of their funding requests and initial steps of the R&D process, both for biological active substances and for bio-stimulants.

″Strategic regulatory advice and technical expertise was recently provided for several new biological active substances during various stages of the approval process. In addition, industries outside our core ag-sector appreciate regulatory support when trying to find sustainable end-of-life options for some of their waste products.″

Reduction in use of synthetic pesticides

Additionally, there is growing global acknowledgement that the use of synthetic pesticides must be reduced wherever possible. Whilst they have helped to multiply food production over the last century to ensure food security for as many people as possible, the agroscience industry, and the general population, realise that this must be achieved in a sustainable way.

At EAS, we work with many organisations to measure the short and long-term impacts of agrochemicals on biodiversity, the environment and human health. We evaluate ways to reduce usage of these products: re-assessing mix levels to minimise the quantity of chemical diluent mix used, developing precision agriculture techniques using ag-tech and aerial drones, improving pesticide delivery methods such as the use of nanotechnology as a Pesticide Delivery System (PDS), spot spraying, and the use of robotics in farming are just a few examples.

Sustainable land management practices

The movement towards improving soil health as a sustainable, long-term investment in our own environment has also picked up significant pace. Robust soil health means better crop health, higher yields and increased natural resistance to pests. We work with international partners to deliver functional soil analysis, offering crop specific data-driven insights on what soil really needs to be healthy, demonstrating our commitment towards a more sustainable future for agricultural practices.

Effective land management practices and crop diversification also contribute to preserving soil quality. Our seed experts help to speed up new genetic introductions, for instance in pulse crops, which can fix nitrogen in soil, and in cover crops to improve soil structure through root systems and encouraging water infiltration.  By collaboration with an industry partner, we can further accelerate the introgression of new, high-value native traits into plant varieties and growers’ fields.

Pest and disease control as part of wider Integrated Crop Management is vital now more than ever to help achieve global food security – for families today and generations of the future. The ability to conserve and enhance natural resources while producing food on an economically viable and sustainable foundation is based on a good understanding of the interactions between biology, environment, and land management systems.

Moving forward…

Moving forward, EAS will continue to focus on augmenting our existing service – this goes far beyond simple data generation. Being able to understand customer challenges and offering bespoke solutions is key to how we function. By understanding regulatory processes, the changing industry, and customers’ challenges, EAS can work alongside sponsors to offer comprehensive solutions.

Digitalisation facilitates significant advantages on a day-to-day basis, reshaping existing business models and providing new opportunities. As a market-leading Contract Research Organisation (CRO), we are keeping up with digital standards and are committed to the process of digitalising our internal operations.

With our industry being especially mindful where resources are concerned, collaborating with EAS for a one-stop service is a great solution for success in regulatory projects. 

Ultimately, our aim is to provide the industry in which we operate with all the technical support needed to screen and develop, register and steward new and existing products and traits around the world.

Please contact Eurofins Agroscience Services at easinfo@eurofins.com

This article was initially published in AgroPages' '2023 Market Insight' magazine.

If you would like to share your company's story. Please contact Christina Xie at christina@agropages.com