Grant: Strategic Workshops Program

In much the same way that the gut microbiome directly affects human health there is an increasing recognition that plant health is impacted by its microbiome. Plants exude between 20-30% of all carbon captured by photosynthesis into the rhizosphere and therefore are active participants in attracting and maintaining their microbiome. The agricultural biotechnology industry is currently expanding its research and development activities in the field of crop microbiomes. There has been a renewed interest in microbial inoculant technologies, reflected by a surge in the growth of the inoculant industry. Currently there are 210 biological products available in Canada from 21 companies, whereas in 1990 there were only 15 products sold by 2 companies (Sippel, 2013, Biotechnology Focus). In 2014 Monsanto and Novozymes announced a partnership (BioAg Alliance) to invest and collaborate in developing new inoculants for crop plants to increase crop yield. Symbiota also recently invested in plant microbiome research in collaboration with University of Saskatchewan to develop new plant inoculants. Saskatchewan Pulse Growers recently announced their strategic goal to improve on-farm yield of pulse crops in Saskatchewan by 30% by 2025 and recognized microbial inoculants will be important in achieving this goal. The Canadian Canola Council has also identified rhizosphere health as a priority research area. Therefore, a timely opportunity exists to create new partnerships between academics and industry that will strategically capitalize on the momentum of industry interest in crop microbiomics. Discovery-based research that describes the ecology and nature of plant microbiomes can lead to innovation of new microbial inoculants that can be commercialized by industrial partners within the agricultural biotech sector. The activities of the proposed workshop will focus on identifying research target areas that will provide fundamental discovery based knowledge that can benefit the entire crop inoculant industry. The proposed agenda of the workshop will also foster new academic-industrial partnerships that will combine next generation 'omics technologies with traditional approaches to advance biotechnology and increase crop yields.