Leveraging biological products to build climate resilience

Global agricultural production faces challenges from climate change, drought, nutrient availability, pests and diseases. Biological products can reduce the use of agrochemicals and help improve productivity by minimizing the environmental risks of toxic waste and water pollution. Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF), phytopathogenic antagonists (PPA), and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been studied for their application as insecticides or pathogen antagonists. However, their potential for developing bio-products has been studied little. This project proposes the integration of beneficial fungi including EPF, PPA and AMF to improve production (+5%) and the resilience of corn crops to climate change with added benefits via reduced agrochemical use (50%), the control of pests and diseases, greater tolerance to drought and soil carbon sequestration. This will be achieved using the native biodiversity of Colombia; Argentina and New Zealand are looking for the most promising alternatives for the development of biologicals that can be integrated into a technological package to be applied in maize cultivation and replicated in other crops post-validation. The project is funded by the New Zealand Government as part of its contribution to the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA).