What is the story of BiOWiSH’s creation and what was the journey that brought you where you are today?
R.V. In a nutshell, we got the idea for BiOWiSH after observing shrimp ponds in Southeast Asia. In these ponds, we saw how certain combinations of microorganisms were able to remove organic waste via natural processes very efficiently. And so, we embarked on our mission of research: to look at groups of synergistic microorganisms in-depth and see if they can make agriculture more efficient. That is, microorganisms which naturally coexist together with plants, but also ones that perform extremely well even in challenging environments.
We discovered that some combinations of these microorganisms were incredibly stable, and that they were also capable of very high levels of catalytic activity. Fertilizers exist to disperse nutrients onto the soil and then into the plant. The science here is a bit complicated but, essentially, we saw the potential for an entirely new way to improve nutrient uptake via leveraging the biotic synergy of these microorganisms with the native soil biology and the plant. Today we call this the HoloGene 3 technology. Our initial results were valuable enough to attract a team of committed scientists and investors, and over the last 10 years we have received almost $100 million of investment. That money funded the science - which proved us right - and allowed us to develop formulations of high agronomic performance microorganisms that can be coated onto common mineral fertilizers and meet the shelf-life requirements of the global fertilizer industry. This world first breakthrough has created a new class of enhanced efficiency fertilizer and is now being adopted by leading fertilizer companies around the world. Companies such as SABIC and ADM in the US.
Today, as a result of our decade-long research program, farmers using BiOWiSH enhanced fertilizers can obtain the same crop yield using between 10 to 20% less fertilizer than their peers, or an average 7.7% yield increase when maintaining their current fertility program.
Our global field data from over 320 independently run trials shows this is achieved at an 86% win rate, which is a high reliability number across a wide range of crops, soils, climates and farmer management practices. In either case, our product helps save farmers time and money, automatically reduces their carbon footprint, and nourishes their underlying soil and groundwater for the next season.
G.B. In some ways, finding the organisms was the easy task, but managing to build efficient systems across our R&D pipeline is what proved most difficult. Thanks to our manufacturing process, all the microorganism compositions we offer are entirely reproducible, which is key to consistent results. We are always improving though, and right now we are working on reducing our production costs further.
How specifically does your product contribute to sustainable agriculture?
R.V. Thanks to those shrimp ponds, we came up with the idea for BiOWiSH, but as a result of our extensive research, the microorganisms we manufacture today are very different. For a long time, it was believed that microorganisms were only active in the soil adjacent to the roots: we discovered that certain types of microorganism actually become integrated within the root system and can then circulate in and out of the plant roots. This type of microorganism is known as an endophyte.
Consequently, the right microorganism can act as a two-way carrier: that is, as a mode of transport for nutrients into the plant, as well as a mode of transport for exudates out of the plant. This improves the nutrient use efficiency of the fertilizer. The exudate products produced by the plant stimulate and feed the native soil microorganisms, so you see this ecosystem is symbiotic and multilayered. Thanks to this collaboration, the plant effectively turns into a farmer itself: the plant has its own colony of microorganisms, which it dynamically feeds and manages to help itself grow.
Over the past decade, bio control agents have probably become the fastest expanding area in plant health. We now expect to see biological solutions for growth promotion, follow a similar trajectory. Broadly known as bio-stimulants, these technologies can help improve agricultural productivity and sustainability. BiOWiSH is at the forefront of biostimulants, having developed a technology that can be seamlessly integrated into current agricultural practices. Because the technology is coated onto the fertilizer the farmer is already using, it requires no additional on-farm processes to gain the benefits of the microorganisms.
G.B. The hologenome concept states that an organism is not just the sum of its own genes, rather an organism is equal to its own genes plus those which define the microorganisms which live inside it, for example in the digestive tract or on the skin. This idea can be applied to agronomy, where the hologenome consists not only of the plant itself, but also of the soil bacteria and the fungi - each contributing their own genes. The genetic aggregate of all these organisms determines how effective various processes (like nitrogen fixation or nutrient mobilization) are. We like to think our microorganism solutions act like probiotics for the plant.
In which markets do you currently operate and what are your plans for expansion?
R.V. We are based out of Cincinnati, Ohio and all of our production and the vast majority of R&D are done in the United States. Presently, we sell our products in 17 markets around the world, and our future growth is not bound so much by aspiration, but by regulatory approvals - biologicals tend to be a highly regulated product class. We are still rapidly expanding and the big markets in the near-term are the U.S., Brazil, Vietnam, China and Indonesia. In the agronomy sector, the vast majority of our business is centered around our liquid product (BiOWiSH Crop Liquid), which we sell directly to fertilizer companies globally. Our aquaculture and other environmental products are sold through traditional distribution channels.
The global farming economy needs to grow more food than ever before in the next few years, what are your plans to be a part of that?
G.B. Our goal is to develop better, more stable products that are attractive to the agriculture industry, as well as to the aquaculture, soil remediation and water treatment industries. We deliberately designed a biological product which can be coated onto solid fertilizers or mixed into liquid fertilizers. This means we are able to work in collaboration with the fertilizer industry rather than in competition. This helps companies refine their traditional fertilizer product-line by offering new products enhanced with our biological microorganisms. In recent years, I think the world has understood the need to de-commoditize basic chemicals in times of global volatility, and this aligns with our value proposition.
When it comes to the environment, the fertilizer industry is under significant stakeholder and regulatory pressure to reduce the eutrophication (over-saturation of natural bodies of water with minerals) and volatilization into the air of compounds used in agriculture. In some cases in agriculture, these air emissions can be much more damaging than carbon dioxide. We can help the fertilizer industry by providing a low-cost fertilizer productivity boost - that is, a natural means of getting more crop production out of each unit of land, water and agricultural inputs.
Smallholder farmers are also important - they grow 80% of the world’s food – wherever fertilizer is used today our technology fits – and in the future we also plan to help with our own soil regeneration products.
R.V. In our assessment, it is unlikely any technology will totally displace the fertilizer industry in the next couple of decades. The world will remain reliant on the industrial production of mineral fertilizers to meet crop production needs for years to come. This presents a challenge to improve sustainability when there are not enough economic incentives for farmers to change their practices right now. Our mission is to work with the fertilizer industry to help farmers achieve higher production per acre in a way that reduces carbon footprint and reduces water and agchem inputs per unit of crop production. We are committed to shifting the industry to focus on metrics which truly measure the end goal - food output - and we are working to feed humanity in a more sustainable way.
