In Africa, where there is an overwhelming need to improve soil health and crop productivity, microbial science in agriculture is just getting started. Researchers believe there’s a revolution in finding alternatives to pesticides and artificial fertilizers that can improve African farm productivity.
Scientists are investigating the plant microbiome — the billions of bacteria living in roots, leaves and soil that help plants absorb minerals and nutrients, fight disease, and resist drought and heat.
Tiny bugs can play a beneficial role in plant health. Growth-promoting bacteria or fungi can be added to plants or soil in a variety of ways – in seed coats, suspended in water and sprayed on plants or soil, or mixed into mulches that are added to the soil or placed around plant stems, according to a report in The Conversation.
Like the human microbiome — the bacteria and fungi in the gut that help us digest food and fight infection — the plant microbiome could be key to generating more food without the side effects like pollution, environmental degradation and toxic residues from chemical pesticides, Fast CoExist reported.
About 65 percent of African farmland is degraded, according to The Conversation. Unhealthy soils affect food development and security, and cost African farmers $68 billion a year.
Microbial products are exciting because they come from naturally occurring micro-organisms — microscopic life forms that can create mutually beneficial associations with plants including maize, tomatoes and peppers.
They help improve soil fertility and strengthen plant resistance to insect pests and diseases. They also help plants tolerate temperature fluctuations. They have the potential to improve agriculture and help feed the growing population in a changing climate while protecting the environment, The Conversation reported.
The current revolution in agricultural technology that is reshaping Western agriculture has yet to reach poor African countries. This is the case when it comes to agricultural products based on the use of micro-organisms occurring naturally in the soil, such as bacteria and fungi.
AgBiome, a microbial development startup in Durham, North Carolina, is identifying microbes that can control weevils that attack sweet potato plants in sub-Saharan Africa, Fast CoExist reported.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently awarded AgBiome a multiyear grant to discover beneficial microbes with the ability to control sweet potato weevils.
Sweetpotato is the third most important food crop in seven Eastern and Central African countries, outranking cassava and maize. It ranks fourth in importance in six Southern African countries, according to CIP International.
Five of the world’s 10 top sweet potato producing countries are in Africa — Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Rwanda — according to Maps Of World.
AgBiome will look for sub-Saharan microbes and search its existing library of 26,000 microbial strains. “The weevil insect does a lot of damage to smallholder farmers who depend on sweet potatoes as a staple food crop, and there are no good products they can use now,” said Kelly Smith, AgBiome director of microbial development.
AgBiome is about to launch its first product, an insecticide called Howler made with microbes isolated from cotton roots in Texas. The microbes come in powder or spray form and are grown in a laboratory. There is no genetic manipulation needed, Fast CoExist reported. The microbes stay fresh for 18 months, the company says, and can survive at up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Microbial solutions are less toxic than chemical ones, and potentially more efficient for farmers. With microbes, there’s no waiting period before farmers can re-enter a field. With pesticides, growers must wait hours or days before re-entering fields and greenhouses to tend or pick crops.
Microbial-based solutions are perhaps the best-kept secret among the innovations driving agriculture today, according to The Conversation:
Much more is commonly known about precision techniques, drones and satellite data. But in developed countries, microbial-based solutions are a $2.3-billion market — and growing.
Microbial-based solutions are also funded and have the support of the largest corporations in agriculture.
Monsanto and Novozymes created the BioAg Alliance. This long-term strategic partnership combines their capabilities in microbial discovery, development and production, and $300-million has been set aside for research and development. In addition, Bayer CropScience developed Poncho/Votivo, a biological seed treatment. This product protects young soybean plants from pests, improves root growth and increases yields by 15 percent.
Other companies that have invested in this area include AgBiome and BioConsortia, a company specializing in the discovery and development of natural microbial products. There’s also Symbiota, a company developing microbial solutions for agriculture.
Yields for several staple food crops in sub-Saharan Africa have been stagnant for decades, the victim of depleted and nutrient-poor soils. To catch up with the rest of the world, Africa needs to move faster, The Conversation reported:
A unified microbial research initiative is needed. This would bring together research institutions, private industry and funding agencies, and could help to lobby for resources.
