Cultivating solutions: Why collaboration on crop nutrition is key to increasing agricultural productivity

By Chris Abbott

Chief Executive Officer, Pivot Bio

Farming can seem simple from the outside looking in. You plant a seed, nurture your fields and when the time comes, harvest. The reality is much more complex and becomes even more so when you consider all the behind-the-scenes – or in this case, under-the-ground – work that goes into harvesting a single crop.

Crop nutrition is a vital part of any farming operation, requiring active management of the delicate mix of macro- and micronutrients available to crops to ensure maximum productivity. There are many factors that impact plants’ productivity, but if we can address these yield-limiting factors in a holistic way, we can unlock a new level of productivity and sustainability in agriculture.

Coming online are innovative crop-nutrition technologies that enable us to redefine success in agriculture. For example, the company I lead has set its sights on eliminating the need for synthetic nitrogen fertilizer – which is one of the world’s most significant environmental challenges, but arguably the most critical input for feeding the world.

Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and CO₂ emissions

The higher yields delivered by synthetic nitrogen fertilizer support about half the world’s population, but the synthetic nitrogen fertilizer industry is also responsible for more emissions than either aviation or maritime shipping – making it a tension the world must resolve.

Nitrogen fertilizer accounts of 2.5% of the world's annual global greenhouse gas emissions. Image: Pivot Bio

Proprietary nitrogen-fixing microbes, like the ones developed by Pivot Bio, are helping growers replace up to 25% of their synthetic fertilizer, and we expect the rate of replacement to continue to grow as we scale and release new innovations.

In 2022, the last year of audited data, we estimate that growers replaced 32,000 metric tons (MT) of synthetic fertilizer with our products, avoiding more than 225,000 MT of carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent. We grew that by more than 50% in 2023 and expect growth to continue this year and into the future.

There are companies working to solve complementary challenges in phosphate fertilizer through adsorbent technologies that could reduce applied phosphate by 50% in some cases, and phosphate-solubilizing microbes that can draw on phosphate already present in the soil.

Mycelial networks from beneficial fungi can extend root systems to provide greater access to nutrients. These technologies are synergistic and necessary to solve huge challenges like fertilizer use through market ready solutions for the world’s farmers.

Naturally occurring minerals, sometimes called geomaterials, also have been shown to improve nutrient use and absorb carbon from the atmosphere.

Other technologies, like peptides, pheromones and RNA-based biopesticide solutions, can protect crops from pests and disease in a safer manner that reduces potential negative impact on pollinators and beneficial organisms, or reduces synthetical chemicals in the diets of humans around the world.

Beyond the field, advances in digital technologies for agriculture, such as satellites, drones and artificial intelligence, are capturing millions of data points that offer farmers tools and insights to improve efficiency and more effectively manage crop nutrition.

These solutions are helping growers maximize yield to feed the world, while improving their environmental impact and economic outcomes. Yet, agriculture’s complexities mean that no single product or company can solve this challenge alone and each needs to be positioned as a tool farmers can leverage, rather than a silver bullet solution.

This is why it is so vital for the industry to collaborate to identify workable solutions that can improve productivity, profitability and sustainability and then make them available to growers as a holistic suite of complementary tools.

Collaboration is key to tackling agricultural challenges like crop nutrition

As the world changes around us, many of the resources we have relied on for generations are becoming less available or more volatile, and the weather is becoming more extreme.

With an increasingly unstable climate, a grower’s livelihood relies more heavily on improving soil health, the efficient use of water and the use of resilient crop-nutrition solutions like ours.

Growers have been good stewards of the land and the foundation of our global economy for millennia. But there is more that all of us in the agriculture sector can and must do to help them in their mission of feeding the world and taking care of our planet.

The question facing all of us is, how do we feed the world and while saving it? Meeting this moment requires an all-of-industry approach and no one piece of the food system can go it alone.

The entire value chain – from crop-input companies and equipment manufacturers to grain handlers, processors and finally the consumer-facing food and fuel brands – has a responsibility to come together to build a better future.

Greater collaboration and focus on crop nutrition across the food system is a critical first step in providing the world’s farmers with the solutions they need to continue to sustainably feed the world.

Working together through initiatives like the World Economic Forum’s Food Innovation Hubs we can make the most impactful data, tools and information and latest innovations easily accessible to growers around the world.

To further accelerate collaboration on crop nutrition we will be launching The Pivot Bio Institute later this year to serve as a platform for growers, scientists, crop nutrition advisers and other companies to collaborate on new ways to dramatically improve the crop nutrition offerings on the market. We’re looking for partners now and invite leaders from across the system to join this effort.