SolACE Innovation: Second generation microbial inoculants (bread wheat and potato)

Roughly, one-billon microorganisms are present in 1 gram of soil. Good ones and bad ones; fungi and bacteria. Among them, one can find plant growth-promoting bacteria as well as antagonistic fungi and bacteria of plant pathogens, but also human and plant pathogens. It is the work of scientists to select suitable microorganisms. They are looking for N-fixing bacteria, P-mobilisation fungi or bacteria, and microorganisms that increase the stress tolerance of plants.

Thanks to former work, the SolACE project was able to start with consortia of microorganisms in pot trials. Consortia of three microorganisms (fungi and bacteria) are available. Based on the results of the pot trials on potatoes and wheat, we selected three consortia for each crop. These will be tested in the SolACE field trials, which will start this year for wheat and next year for potatoes.

We aim to find a consortium, which can provide a higher tolerance against combined stress to the crop.

We need feedback from you in terms of in which direction we should go – do you want a liquid formulation, a powder formulation, and a granular formulation? What kind of application would you like? We need your help to reach our goal for potatoes to perform well under combined stress.