Syngenta and the pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) company TraitSeq are joining forces to harness the full power of AI in developing innovative, high-performance biostimulants.
As a world leader in next-generation biological products for agriculture, Syngenta will apply its extensive knowledge of crop biology alongside TraitSeq’s proprietary AI methods to identify highly specific indicators of a plant’s cellular state – known as biomarkers. When activated, these biomarkers reveal how well a plant is responding to efforts aimed at boosting its health or mitigating the effects of external, abiotic stressors.
Biostimulants, applied to plants, seeds or their root environment, work to enhance natural processes within plants. This leads to improved nutrient use efficiency, increased tolerance to abiotic stress and better crop quality. They are a vital and expanding element of sustainable agriculture, although their performance can vary depending on environmental factors such as temperature and local climate.
Syngenta boasts extensive data across various scientific fields – including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and phenomics. By utilising TraitSeq’s sophisticated proprietary platform, scientists from both teams aim to leverage AI to analyse complex biological big data. Their goal is to uncover the intricate molecular interactions that influence a crop’s capacity to utilise available soil nutrients. Once specific biomarkers are identified, the ambition is to quickly and accurately assess a new biostimulant’s efficacy in enhancing plant health.
This development of biostimulants aligns with Syngenta’s efforts to support farmers’ transition to regenerative practices and its steadfast commitment to sustainability. The recently launched Portfolio Sustainability Framework (PSF) rates Syngenta’s products for sustainability and stakeholder alignment across three tiers, with new products included to shift the portfolio towards the top tier.
Camilla Corsi, Head of Crop Protection Research at Syngenta, said: “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, added: “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.”
Biostimulants present an important solution for farmers seeking to improve the sustainability of their operations. They address challenges arising from an increasingly constrained toolbox of available agricultural technologies and evolving consumer demands, offering hope for a more sustainable future in farming.
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