SBIR Phase I: Engineering Seed Microenvironment

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The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is in building climate resilience and promoting lower carbon emissions in the agricultural food production system. The company seeks to develop a seed coating technology that can extend the shelf life of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB), also known as biofertilizers. Such coated seeds boost crop yields and production, and reduce agricultural inputs (e.g. water, energy, fertilizers, land use, and pesticides). The unique coating could alleviate abiotic plant stressors such as soil salinity and drought, making the seeds more climate resilient. The project will provide tools that will make it easier for microbe-based agriculture companies to build and deploy their technologies more broadly. Current seed coating and microbe preservation technologies are generally developed from the non-renewable petrochemicals. These seed coatings are extremely hard to degrade in the environment, ultimately forming microplastics that pollute the water and land systems. Because of these problems, policy makers are banning petroleum-based seed coating usage in the Food and Agriculture industries. The proposed seed coating technology may fill in this gap as it uses biodegradable, naturally-derived, and non-toxic materials. Climate change, soil degradation, and soil salinization are emerging issues that have led to major societal problems around the world. These societal problems include impacts on water, energy, and food security (WEFS). Scientific discoveries in agriculture may inform innovative technological solutions that mitigate these pertinent societal issues. This project will engineer the seed microenvironment to encapsulate, preserve and deliver PGPB using biopolymers. The proposed work may increase precision in microbe and nutrient delivery, and lower the environmental impact of synthetic fertilizers through targeted delivery and substitution with biological fertilizers. The technical research and development will be focused on the development of biopolymer seed coatings and tests of their efficacy in hydrated and anhydrous seed states. The experiments will also assess the protective capabilities of seeds against abiotic stressors such as fungi and nematodes. The project aims to carry out initial experiments under laboratory conditions and subsequently expects to conduct large scale field studies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.