A collaboration between Sacco, Landlab, Synbiotec has led to the creation of 3Biotic Hub, which is offering its services as a research and production partner to optimise the use of biofertilizers, biostimulants, and biocontrol agents.

The guiding principle of the network of the three Italian partners is ‘knowledge before application’. In a statement, 3Biotic Hub said that the network’s multidisciplinary approach is based on a comprehensive analysis of plant and soil microbiomes, a critical step in understanding and optimizing the effectiveness of biofertilizers and biostimulants.

“3Biotic Hub is different because nobody combines such a deep agronomical investigation, together with high-level studies of the plant and soil microbiomes composition and activities and supports you with more than 150 years’ expertise in microbiology and microbial fermentation. Our analyses will tell you not simply who is present in your microbiome, but also who is active within the soil and on the plants, and how their activity is modulating the efficacy of your products and controlling plant physiology. Our purpose is to help you formulating together the best application strategy for your product portfolio, your crop of interest or your biosolutions, supporting you with our skills to improve your product quality and composition,” Francesco Vuolo, Agro Business Developer at Sacco told New AG International.

The three partners in 3Biotic Hub are Sacco, a biotech company recognized internationally as a producer and partner in research, scale-up, production, and packaging of selected microbial cultures used in food production and probiotic products; Landlab, a leader in plant biotechnology, specializing in applied research and pioneering agricultural solutions; and Synbiotec, founded as a spin-off of the University of Camerino, it specialises in the research, development, and production of probiotics for human and animal health.

Adriano Altissimo, CEO of Landlab, told New AG International that the development of a microbials-based product to enhance crop performances is not just a matter of adding another “product”, another “strain”, without looking to the whole cropping system.

“It’s far more complicated, as it implies the comprehension of the complex Plants-Soil-Microbiome interaction, plants’ response to a changed rhizosphere, the shifts in the relationships between plants-nutrients-water-microbes, and then properly manage them through the seasons an interdisciplinary approach based on a multiple set of sciences harmonically working.

This is 3BioticHub aim: to be a partner on the path for a balanced crop status moving from the soil microbiome and boosting its health and power through microbes-based solutions,” said Altissimo.