​New R&D partnership to bring SugaROx's T6P biostimulant to UK market

Date:10-31-2024

In recent news, SugaROx announced how the technology developed by plant biologists from Rothamsted Research and organic chemists from Oxford University earned the Innovation & Excellence Award 2024 for Agriculture Chemical Manufacturer of the Year. Today, SugaROx shared that it has secured funding from Innovate UK to launch a Large R&D Partnership to accelerate the development and commercialization of its first product: a T6P biostimulant to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of wheat production in the UK.

Since launching SugaROx 3.5 years ago, SugaROx has developed a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for its T6P biostimulant and conducted wheat trials to evaluate its performance in the UK, Canada, the US, Germany and India. The field results show that under good growing conditions, SugaROx's T6P MVP has the potential to boost wheat yields by 5%-22%. Even under drought stress, SugaROx has seen yield benefits ranging from 4%-14%.

″Our work suggests differences in response depending on environmental conditions and wheat varieties, so as a science-based venture we felt a need to explore GxExM (genotype x environment x management) interactions″, explains Dr Cara Griffiths, our CTO and venture Co-Founder. ″In the new project we will collaborate with plant scientists from Rothamsted to screen mapped wheat genotypes from pre-breeding populations for T6P response and identify markers to predict performance in commercial varieties″.

″I am delighted to collaborate with SugaROx to accelerate the development of robust biostimulants based on the technology invented through our collaboration with Prof Ben Davis from Oxford University″, says Dr Matthew Paul, Principal Scientist at Rothamsted Research and venture Co-Founder alongside Cara and Ben. ″This precision approach is game-changing and is possible due to the in-depth scientific understanding available to us on the role of T6P in plants – work that started in and has been supported by BBSRC since 1999″.

″While our approach is rooted in over 25 years of cutting-edge science, its ultimate value lies in how effectively it translates to the field. That’s why agronomy—the science of crop production—plays a critical role in our product development process,″ adds Cara. ″The new project will also allow us to commission a number of trials on farms to explore how environmental conditions might affect MVP performance.″

ADAS, the UK’s largest independent provider of agricultural and environmental consultancy, rural development services and policy advice, will facilitate trials on commercial farms. They have many years of experience in trialling biostimulant products and have recently authored several evidence reviews of biostimulant efficacy.

″We are excited to be working with SugaROx to support the rigorous testing of their T6P biostimulant and will be running a series of 40 tramline field trials with UK farmers over the next 4 years. Combining robust trial design with the use of our bespoke Agronomics software will allow us to determine the impact of the T6P biostimulant upon wheat yield″ says Dr Despina Berdeni, Soil Scientist at ADAS.

″Through an 18-month FIP Feasibility Study completed in March 2023 ADAS and us identified generic barriers for the adoption of biostimulants in the UK,″ says Bianca Forte, our Business Development Director. ″In our new project, ADAS will be co-ordinating in-depth surveys and consultations with a range of stakeholders including farmers, agronomists and food companies to ensure we address questions and accelerate end-user adoption″.