Development Of A Microbial Metabolite-Based Biostimulant To Enhance Profitability And Competitiveness Of Controlled Environment Agriculture

Controlled environment agriculture (CEA)is very capital intensive. In addition to the conventional investments in land and variable costs like seeds, fertilizer, and pest control, CEA requires larger capital investments and higher energy, labor, and input costs.Thus, new technologies are needed to increase the competitiveness of CEA by increasing the yield of high quality fruits and vegetables without additional capital costs.Plant biostimulants -natural substances or microorganisms used to enhance plant growth - could enhance yields and profitability of CEA, but face obstacles to consumer adoption. Biostimulants need to be proven effective and compatible with common growing practices through rigorous contolled trials.Growcentia's first technology is a patent-pending microbial biostimulant that we developed to increase the availability of phosphorus (P) and micronutrients to plants. Phosphorus is an important target because it is an essential macro element, required for the success of all known life forms. In preliminary tests, we found tomato blooms to develop 28% faster when treated with our biostimulant which translated to a yield increase of 14%.But potential customers and channel partners communicated an entrenched resistance to the idea of using live microbes for indoor agriculture. This project aims to evaluate whether a formulation of our technology that excludes living cells maintains efficacy for enhancing tomato growth. We will evaluate non-living formulations through rigorous plant trials in a controlled greenhouse. If succesful, we will enhance the profitability of CEA, the supply of year-round fruits and vegetables, and the accessibility of nutritious foods.