Currently, international organizations, governmental institutions and private companies in the agricultural sector consider that soil health is key to produce food with better nutritional values and, therefore, healthier. The importance of knowing the health of the soil has led to the increasing use of techniques to obtain information on the microorganisms that inhabit it, with the aim of positively influencing its balance and function.
Improving soil health is very important for companies that produce inputs, which is why they have remodeled their product ranges, with the intention of achieving this objective The problem arises when there are several products on the market that claim to produce the same effect on the soil and crops, but do not have scientific validation, which causes the product to lose credibility in the market and there may be a possible deterioration of the company brand image
In order to avoid this situation and to strengthen links with their customers, companies that manufacture inputs must demonstrate the effects that their products are having on the soil in the medium and long term. In addition, knowing the effects is important for future product formulations or screening
There is a technology that solves these problems and is being used by many ag input companies across the globe. Its name is BeCrop® and it was developed by Biome Makers This technology is based on the scientific article “Network Properties of Local Fungal Communities Reveal the Anthropogenic Disturbance Consequences of Farming Practices in Vineyard Soils” which has been validated by the scientific community and published.
The technology is applied in 3 steps The first is soil sampling, this process is validated by Biome Makers and was developed to achieve the highest possible accuracy. The second step is DNA sequencing of soil microorganisms, this process is the most accurate worldwide due to the use of a database of more than 14 million taxonomic references. Finally, advanced bioinformatics and artificial intelligence technologies are applied, transforming the data obtained into a report that reflects information in 2 dimensions: biodiversity, i.e. the microbes that exist in the soil, and functionality, i.e. functions of these microorganisms and their impact on health and nutrient cycles
From this technology, BeCrop® Trials was created, which was developed to analyze all the effects that an input produces on the soil microbiome BeCrop® Trials is a very precise service due to the statistical complexity it uses, because it requires at least 2 locations, 3 replicates and 2 time periods.
Once the analysis is completed, a report is obtained with data on how the product affects, both positively and negatively, the plot analyzed. Companies also get access to the BeCrop® Portal platform, which is used to carry out more detailed analyses
In this project carried out with SeedForward, the effects of the Canola Guard product were tested by performing a BeCrop Trials You can read the real application case by clicking here and you can also watch the complete webinar on the case here. With all this information, problems associated with not knowing the effects of inputs can be avoided. This will help input production companies and their distributors to be able to have scientific reasons that they can provide to their customers to validate commercial claims on soil effects and improve the commercialization of the products.
