- Biologicals’ biggest challenge is no longer scientific innovation
- Farmer education is now the biggest hurdle for biologicals
- Stronger regulation is helping separate science from hype
The biologicals sector has spent years uncovering new microorganisms, developing novel formulations and proving biological efficacy in the field.
But while scientific understanding has expanded, the biggest challenge is no longer technology itself but convincing farmers to adopt it.
“The technology is already there. It’s the convincing and the training aspect that is taking some time,” said Sandeepa Kanitkar, founder and managing director of India-based Kan Biosys and president of the Biological Agri Solutions Association of India (BASAI).
Speaking to AgNavigator, Kanitkar said she believed biological products would eventually account for around 40 per cent of the farmer’s toolbox across soil health, plant nutrition and plant protection.
This would not be concentrated only in high-value crops but would eventually spread to field crops and row crops as well.
The main driver behind this shift, she said, is growing concern over the efficiency of conventional agricultural inputs.
“People are using a lot of fertilisers, but the efficiency is not where it needs to be. Because that efficiency is lacking, it is causing other forms of pollution. You have to utilise inputs fully; otherwise, they are going to end up somewhere else. They are polluting our lakes and oceans, causing eutrophication,” said Kanitkar.
While cost is often cited as a barrier to biological adoption, Kanitkar noted that biologicals are generally cheaper to develop than conventional chemicals.
“To bring a chemical into the market, it costs maybe USD50m in India and USD200m to USD250m in the Western world. To bring a biological into the market, it costs just USD10m to USD12m,” she said.
Furthermore, she believes broader environmental pressures will accelerate biological adoption.
She highlighted the pressure facing rice cultivation, which is forcing growers and policymakers to consider alternatives.
“Rice is one of the most polluting crops. In South East Asia, we have grown rice on the same land for thousands of years, but as we have tried to push yields beyond a certain point, pollution has increased. Rice production now faces significant greenhouse gas challenges, and biologicals can help mitigate those emissions. You do not stop growing rice; you reduce its carbon impact,” she said.
Agronomic support needed
For biologicals to move beyond early adopters, companies will need to do more than promote microbial products as sustainable alternatives to conventional inputs.
Kanitkar said adoption was likely to begin where biologicals solve a clear and immediate pain point.
In cotton, for example, she said adoption of new technologies has often been driven by pest and disease challenges, with farmers becoming more receptive once a product addresses a problem they already recognise.
Soil microbe knowledge ‘limited’
Despite the importance of soil health, Akshat Medakker, chief innovation officer of Kan Biosys, said knowledge of soil microbiomes is not at the level it needs to be.
“It’s very esoteric knowledge that few people hold. It’s very limited. I don’t think people understand the depth of how important it is,” he said.
For instance, Medakker said most people fail to understand that microorganisms have primary and secondary functions.
“I think what people need to realise is that when you are using microorganisms, which are already present in the soil, they have a lot of secondary functions that can be repurposed for other things.
“We use microorganisms that are natural biofungicides and act on fungi. But at the same time, these microorganisms secrete certain metabolites that act as growth promoters and help boost plant health,” he said.
Inferior products undermining sector
The limited understanding of how microbial products work has also created opportunities for poorly researched products to enter the market.
Medakker called out companies that attempt to replicate successful products without fully understanding the science behind them.
“One company will see another using Bacillus and do the same thing without understanding the functionality of that particular microorganism,” he said.
He added that products developed without understanding the functionality of a specific microorganism often fail to deliver consistent results once commercialised, contributing to scepticism around biologicals.
Kanitkar stressed the importance of effective regulation in helping credible products and companies to stand out from the noise.
“Initially, biostimulants were not regulated in India, so you had 100 different companies producing biostimulants. But once regulation started coming, these companies were automatically weeded out,” she said.
While she believes regulatory oversight is moving in the right direction, she cautioned that biologicals need a different regulatory framework from synthetic chemicals.
She stressed that many microbial products contain naturally occurring organisms rather than man-made compounds.
Fortunately, she believes “awareness is being created at all levels”.
“I don’t blame anybody because right now the knowledge is expanding. People are trying to expand their vistas and horizons,” she said.
