In a significant advancement for sustainable agriculture, Syngenta, a global leader in innovative biological products, has partnered with TraitSeq, a pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) company. This collaboration focuses on enhancing the development of high-performance biostimulants through sophisticated AI technologies.
The partnership aims to leverage Syngenta’s comprehensive expertise in crop biology alongside TraitSeq’s proprietary AI methodologies to identify specific indicators of a plant’s cellular state, referred to as biomarkers. These biomarkers, once activated, help determine a plant's response to various interventions intended to boost its health or mitigate the impacts of external stressors—particularly abiotic factors such as drought or extreme temperatures.
Biostimulants are applied to plants, seeds, or their root environments to enhance natural physiological processes. The benefits include improved nutrient usage, increased resilience to environmental stress, and superior crop quality. Although they play a critical role in sustainable farming, the effectiveness of biostimulants can be influenced by environmental conditions, making the quest for reliable and consistent products paramount.
Syngenta holds extensive datasets across several scientific domains, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and phenomics. By integrating TraitSeq’s advanced AI-driven analytical platform, researchers aim to decipher complex biological "big data" to reveal the molecular interactions that determine how crops utilise soil nutrients. The ultimate goal is to swiftly and accurately evaluate the effectiveness of new biostimulants on plant health once the biomarkers are identified.
This initiative coincides with Syngenta’s commitment to supporting farmers in their transition towards regenerative practices, outlined in their recently introduced Portfolio Sustainability Framework (PSF). This framework evaluates Syngenta's products in terms of sustainability and stakeholder engagement across three tiers, aiming to elevate newer products into the higher echelons of sustainability.
Camilla Corsi, Head of Crop Protection Research at Syngenta, commented, “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 revolutionise 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, further emphasised the significance of the partnership by stating, “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.”
With biostimulants representing a vital avenue for farmers striving for sustainability amid an increasingly limited range of agricultural technologies, this collaboration is poised to impact the future of farming, addressing evolving consumer demands while fostering more resilient agricultural systems.
Source: Noah Wire Services