Productivity inference system and risk of pests in agriculture through microbiota analysis

• Grant number: 23/03394-1
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: July 01, 2023
• End date: June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Rafael Silva Rocha
• Grantee: Rafael Silva Rocha
• Company: Bymycell Inova Simples Ltda
• CNAE: Desenvolvimento e licenciamento de programas de computador não-customizáveis ; Pesquisa e desenvolvimento experimental em ciências físicas e naturais
• Associated researchers: Gustavo Tamasco ; Lucas Bigolin Lorenzon ; María Eugenia Guazzaroni ; Stela Virgilio
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/13302-7 - Development of bioinformatics tools for analyzing soil microbiota profiles, BP.TT; 23/09883-4 - Environmental DNA extraction to build a sample reference bank, BP.TT; 23/09877-4 - Next generation DNA sequencing process optimization, BP.TT

Abstract

Agribusiness in Brazil accounts for around 27% of the country's GDP. In agriculture, one of the major bottlenecks has been the strong dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which can reach up to 30% of the sector's production costs. In addition, the use of chemical products also generates significant impacts on the environment, requiring the development of new technologies consistent with a greener production agenda. In this sense, the use of bioinputs has been growing at a rate of 40% per year, moving a market of more than R$ 2 billion in the last year. These technologies consist of the use of biological inoculants capable of mobilizing nutrients for plants, protecting against pests (biological control) and stimulating plant development. In terms of soil, new approaches aiming the mapping of the community of microorganisms present (ie, microbiota analysis) have shown to be promising to assist in the development of precision agriculture methodologies. In this sense, the reduction in the costs of next-generation DNA sequencing, as well as the development of new technologies, has been driving agribusiness towards more specific and biotechnological approaches. At ByMyCell, we developed an initial project using soil microbiota analysis as a tool for precision agriculture by inferring the biological potential of samples and detecting outbreaks of pathogens. In this PIPE FASE 2 Direct project, we will seek to validate the methodology generated at scale and create a reference bank of soil samples, thus allowing the establishment of correlations between microbiota, fertility, risk potential and other metrics necessary for a targeted use of bioinputs in agriculture. These results, together with the network of partners and distributors being built by ByMyCell, will allow the insertion in the market of a soil analysis tool with high scale potential and focus on reducing costs in Brazilian agriculture. (AU)