Microbial Seed Treatments - The Future?

Microbial seed treatments are mainly used for crop stress tolerance and increasing yields.

Microbes:

Microbes are bacteria, fungi and viruses, they're ability to rapidly respond to environmental change is a characteristic that separates microbes from GMO and pesticides, microbes are isolated from within healthy plans (Maltzahn, 2018). When a crop fails to respond to a change in environment or nutrient availability, the yield will significantly reduce.

SOURCE: INDIGO AG

Indigo AG is a company that produces crop seeds, these seeds are coated with microbes enabling regular plant growth in periods of environmental stress, such as droughts, a key limiting factor to crop production in arid regions. Using insects in the seed coating process, suited to the microbes of the plant.

Coating of seeds with carefully selected microbes before planting, to test the water supply water significantly reduced to replicate a period of drought. Compared with a seed not coated with microbes. Seed 1 flourishes and stands tall, seed 2 shrivels.

Microbial seed treatment may appeal to more customers, especially those conscious about what goes into their food and how its produced. This technique contrasts to GMO, by technically enhancing the natural processes of microbe production within the plant. In addition, GMO offers protection under low water availability, however does not hugely benefit farmers in terms of yields.

Hurdles:

For farmers wanting to adopt this method, they must be willing to pay premiums for the products, which are more expensive than GMO or pesticide products. For full commercial success, prices have to be affordable, ideally the same as current seed prices for low income farmers to consider it as a viable change (O'Callaghan, 2016). As it is profit driven, it will only favour wealthy farmers that can afford it.

Microbial seed treatments seem to be symbiosis between technology and nature, enhancing the current crop growth process, reducing risk of failure. By also benefitting the soil, creating bio diversity of organisms, it appears to be highly beneficial, especially when compared to the side effects of using modern pesticides for ecosystem and in turn, human health.

What do you think about this? Is this a viable option for farmers in water scarce regions in African Countries?

Please share your thoughts,

Have a look at IndigoAG below:

https://www.indigoag.com/for-consumers