Across Canada
| By Doré Collett, SRC
The future of agricultural biologics IMPROVING CROP PRODUCTION Demand for agricultural products continues to grow as the world’s population increases. At the same time, crop productivity can be seriously impacted by stresses such as drought, pests and weeds. Fertilizers and pesticides play a part in overcoming these obstacles, but crop biologics have an increasing role in the success of the agriculture industry.
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he Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) is working with academic researchers and biotech companies to develop and commercialize a new generation of crop biologics, providing an environmentally sustainable solution to increasing crop production by improving seed viability, plant health and crop yield. Located in the centre of Canadian agriculture, SRC offers world-class fermentation facilities and contract services that are accelerating the commercialization of this next generation of crop biologics. In the context of improving global food security, SRC vice-president of Strategic Initiatives Phillip Stephan feels “it’s quite exciting for us to enable process optimization, scaleup, and production of these crop biologics that hold such promise and potential impact for Saskatchewan crop producers and the global markets they serve.”
Crop biologics Stephan adds that recent advances in metagenomics and bioprospecting technologies are creating tremendous opportunities to increase food production and promote global food security through the discovery, development, and commercialization of new crop biologics. Crop biologics research focuses on beneficial microbes, their symbiotic relationships with plants and how those relationships help plants thrive under a range of environmental stresses. Like the good bacteria that lives in your gut and helps your body’s digestion and metabolism, the right microbes can improve plant health by fighting disease, increasing nutrient absorption and improving water use efficiency. Microbes called endophytes can work inside a plant’s cells to augment the plant’s metabolism and contribute to overall health. Endophytes are receptive to what is going on October/November 2016 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS 23
