[Magnum44]

[PJ-Comix]

Hungria. Well, she sure has the right name for increasing food production.

[x]

Summary: She’s not eating them. She’s using them for fertilizer.

Major disappointment. Bacteria and bugs are the future of cuisine.

[PGR88]

Some farms are so large that it can take four or five days to drive from one side to the other.

In a previous job, I once visited a 40,000 acre orange plantation in Brazil, in the state of Minas Gerais.

It was so large, farm workers had to worry about black jaguar attacks

[ProtectOurFreedom]

What an inspiring and uplifting article. Thanks for posting. I had no idea that seed coating with microorganisms and fungi was a thing! I became curious if it is used in the USA. Here's what Grok says about it.

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While Hungria's research is primarily based in Brazil, her innovations in microbial seed coating have global relevance, including in the USA, where microbial inoculants are widely used for soybeans and other crops (as noted in the prior response). Her advancements in Bradyrhizobium inoculation and compatibility with chemical treatments align with U.S. practices, where 50-60% of soybean acres use inoculated seeds. Her work supports the growing U.S. market for biological seed treatments, driven by demand for sustainability.

How Seeds Are Coated with Microorganisms:
Seed coating with microorganisms, often called microbial seed inoculation or bio-coating, involves applying beneficial microbes (like bacteria, fungi, or other microorganisms) to seeds before planting to enhance plant growth, improve nutrient uptake, or protect against pests and diseases. The process typically includes:

1. Selection of Microorganisms: Specific strains, such as Rhizobium (for nitrogen fixation in legumes), Bacillus, or Trichoderma (for disease suppression), are chosen based on the crop and desired benefits.
2. Formulation: Microbes are cultured and formulated into a stable product, often as a liquid suspension, powder, or peat-based carrier, ensuring viability during storage and application.
3. Coating Process:
   • Slurry Method: Seeds are mixed with a liquid microbial inoculant, sometimes combined with a sticking agent (e.g., sugar syrup or polymers) to ensure adhesion.
   • Dry Coating: Powdered inoculants are dusted onto seeds, often with a binder.
   • Pelleting: Microbes are incorporated into a coating material (e.g., clay or polymers) that encases the seed, used in precision planting.
   • Spray Application: In some cases, inoculants are sprayed onto seeds during planting.
4. Drying and Quality Control: Coated seeds are dried to maintain microbial viability and tested to ensure sufficient microbial populations.
5. Storage and Handling: Coated seeds are stored under conditions (e.g., cool, dry) to preserve microbe viability until planting.

Advanced techniques may involve encapsulation in biodegradable gels or multilayer coatings to protect microbes from environmental stress (e.g., UV light, desiccation).

Is This Common in the USA?
Yes, microbial seed coating is common in the USA, particularly for certain crops, though its prevalence varies by crop type and farming practice:

• Legumes: Coating soybean, alfalfa, and other legume seeds with Rhizobium or Bradyrhizobium for nitrogen fixation is standard practice in U.S. agriculture. Most soybean seeds planted in the U.S. are inoculated.
• Corn and Other Crops: Microbial coatings with bacteria like Azospirillum or fungi like Trichoderma are increasingly used in corn, wheat, and vegetables to enhance growth or stress tolerance. Adoption is growing due to interest in sustainable agriculture.
• Organic and Sustainable Farming: Organic farmers and those adopting regenerative agriculture frequently use microbial inoculants to reduce chemical inputs.
• Commercial Availability: Companies like Bayer, Corteva, and Novozymes offer microbial seed treatments, and products like inoculants or biofungicides are widely marketed to U.S. farmers.
• Adoption Rates: While exact figures are hard to pin down, microbial seed treatments are more common in high-value crops or large-scale operations. A 2020 USDA report noted that about 50-60% of soybean acres in the U.S. used inoculated seeds, but adoption for non-legume crops is lower, though growing with advancements in biotech.

Challenges to wider adoption include cost, variable efficacy depending on soil conditions, and farmer awareness. However, the U.S. market for microbial seed treatments is expanding, driven by demand for eco-friendly solutions and innovations in microbial formulations.

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I'm not a organic food fanatic, but I do appreciate the efforts to reduce manmade chemicals on our food supply and I try to only shop the perimeter of our grocery stores. I was not surprised to read "organic farmers and those adopting regenerative agriculture frequently use microbial inoculants to reduce chemical inputs."

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

Based in Iowa, it is a "tax-exempt" charity and holds more than $50 million in assets, paid its president $348,269, and the Form 990 shows its massive stock portfolio. Same location for Ruan Foundation, and one learns from Wiki -- "Sponsored by General Foods, John Ruan and family, followed by numerous others."

Source: World Food Prize Foundation Form 990 -- latest 2023

Bankers Trust and more, with the Food Prize as a nice touch of PR.... Looking behind the curtain.... GMO promotion, because in the long run owning patents on DNA can be "funding."

[monkeyshine]

Soylent Green

[Da Coyote]

Good story, but it’s NPR. Given their sorry-assed truth record, I can only hope that it’s one of those rare times that that group got things right.

[PeterPrinciple]

A bacterial boon There’s still some debate about how effective these bacteria are under different soil and climate conditions. But in Brazil, at least, studies have shown that the microbes allow farmers to get by with using less chemical fertilizer, saving money and reducing burdens on the environment.

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Notice what is NOT said. less yield.

As a kid I remember adding the bacteria to the soybean seed. It increased yld compared to no bacteria we were told. maybe but it was an add on for seed sales.

Then we started adding fertilizer which gave us more yield so the bacteria is ineffective.

It may have application in South America, but this is not new.

In the US, the mgt goal is max yield which may not be the same as max profit.

[logi_cal869]

I was really expecting the research presented to be a result of study of Amazonian ‘dark earth’/super soil attributed to ancient cultures.

https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-amazonians-created-mysterious-dark-earth-purpose

To my knowledge, there has never been a microbial study of ‘terra preta.’

Disappointing, but interesting nonetheless.