Partnership bets on corn that reduces fertilizer costs

Inedita Bio, a biotechnology company specializing in genome editing, and Shull Seeds, a Brazilian corn and sorghum seed company, announced an R&D partnership to create corn hybrids that are more efficient in absorbing nutrients and, thus, offer more productive and sustainable materials.

The collaboration will use Inedita's Trait by DesignTM technology, and the first hybrids with the technology are expected to hit the market in 3 to 4 years.

 “The R&D collaboration with Shull will boost the development of biotech traits in the company’s corn hybrids, placing it at the forefront of gene-editing-based innovations in Brazil. Our solutions have the potential to transform the way we produce food, and this partnership confirms that capability,” he said. Paulo Arruda (pictured above, left), CEO of the biotech.

The trait that the companies will develop promises to revolutionize corn cultivation in Brazil.

The goal is to create a hybrid whose management requires less nitrogen fertilizers, acting in a similar way to bacterial inoculants of the Rhizobium genus, popular in soybean cultivation since the 2000s.

Corn hybrid crops with this trait will require less nitrogen fertilizer, which will reduce costs for the farmer.

Other benefits of this technology are increased productivity and reduced environmental impact within the nitrogen production chain and its use in the field.

“The main need of farmers today is to produce more at lower costs, and this is the ultimate goal of the partnership with Inedita. Working to reduce the costs imposed by nitrogen fertilizers is strategic not only from a financial perspective, but also due to global geopolitical challenges,” says the agricultural engineer. Paulo Pinheiro (pictured above, right), CEO of Shull.

“Our vision has always sought to position Brazilian companies as creators of technology that will meet the needs of Brazilian farmers, and which can be licensed to other companies, fostering a virtuous cycle of wealth generation,” he concludes.