The human population is predicted to reach 9 billion people by 20501 and there is a need to increase crop production on current agricultural land to meet the rising demand for food. Farmers routinely manage both plant and soil nutrition to increase crop yields. However, active management of soil and plant microbiomes to stimulate crop growth is still in its infancy. Here, we present an avenue of research attempting to alter these microbial communities by increasing the diversity and abundance of naturally occurring plant-beneficial microorganisms which should translate into better productivity.
Bioprime2 is a patented ferment of molasses that is applied as seed coating, or as foliar and soil spray. It contains many diverse carbon compounds including 2,3-Butanediol and acetoin which directly stimulate plant growth3. Bioprime stimulates certain microbial taxa (e.g. Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria) while suppressing others (e.g. Alphaproteobacteria). Bioprime has been routinely applied to vegetables (e.g. carrots), strawberries, and table grapes in the horticulture industry for many years to control diseases (e.g. Pythium, Fusarium, Sclerotinia) and is also in the fourth year of broad-acre agriculture field trials. We will present data on the effects of Bioprime on the microbiomes of the grapevine phyllosphere and wheat rhizosphere, and its ability to prevent diseases and increase plant productivity. In wheat pot trials, plant biomass significantly increased after Bioprime application (17%, p = 0.005) and was positively correlated with the increased abundance of Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Dikarya (p < 0.05). In wheat field trials, seed coating led to a 3.8% yield increase. In addition to taxonomic studies, we are currently investigating changes in functional genes using third generation sequencing approaches (Oxford Nanopore Technology).
In summary, Bioprime can increase crop production and can alter soil and plant microbiomes. Although the precise modes of action are not yet fully understood, this novel and promising technology can be further developed to engineer desired microbiomes that help increase crop production to feed the ever-growing world population.