Syngenta, a leading entity in agricultural innovation, has announced a strategic partnership with TraitSeq, an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) firm, to enhance the creation of next-generation biostimulants. This collaboration will harness AI’s capabilities to expedite the development of these products, which play a crucial role in modern sustainable agriculture.
Biostimulants are specialised substances applied to plants, seeds, or their root zones, aimed at improving natural plant processes. Their benefits include heightened nutrient use efficiency, increased resilience to abiotic stressors, and enhanced crop quality. However, their effectiveness can vary greatly due to environmental influences like temperature and local climate conditions. The integration of AI will facilitate a more nuanced understanding of these dynamics, potentially leading to the formulation of biostimulants that are tailored to specific environmental conditions.
Syngenta intends to leverage its vast knowledge in crop biology alongside TraitSeq’s proprietary AI technologies to identify precise indicators of a plant's cellular health, referred to as biomarkers. The identification and activation of these biomarkers can provide vital insights into a plant's response to health interventions and stressors. By utilising TraitSeq’s platform, the researchers aim to analyse complex biological data, which could unveil the intricate molecular interactions that govern a crop's nutrient utilisation efficiency.
Camilla Corsi, Head of Crop Protection Research at Syngenta, emphasised the importance of this initiative, stating, “At Syngenta, we are accelerating the pace at which we innovate, to deliver solutions farmers urgently need. Technologies such as TraitSeq’s AI-driven platform enable us to revolutionize our research, attain important data-driven insights, so that we can develop the next-generation of sustainable solutions faster – while further strengthening our pipeline of innovative agricultural technologies.”
Dr. Joshua Colmer, CEO of TraitSeq, noted the significance of their partnership in agricultural input development. “This partnership highlights how TraitSeq’s versatile platform can transform agricultural input development by uncovering predictive biomarkers that directly link molecular insights to biostimulant performance. By equipping Syngenta’s innovation pipeline with these capabilities, we aim to optimise and accelerate the development of new biological solutions, which will support farmers in adopting more sustainable agricultural practices.”
The collaboration is set against a backdrop of increasing scrutiny and evolving consumer demands in the agricultural sector. As the toolkit of available agricultural technologies becomes more constrained, biostimulants present a promising avenue for farmers seeking to enhance the sustainability of their operations. Syngenta’s commitment to sustainability aligns with this development, as evidenced by the recently introduced Portfolio Sustainability Framework (PSF), which assesses the sustainable attributes of its products and aims to elevate new offerings to higher sustainability tiers.
With the use of AI as a driving force, the partnership between Syngenta and TraitSeq is expected to push the boundaries of agricultural science, optimising biostimulant development and paving the way for more effective sustainable agricultural practices in the future.
Source: Noah Wire Services