{"id":2598,"date":"2025-03-03T09:38:52","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T09:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/?p=2598"},"modified":"2025-03-03T09:59:29","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T09:59:29","slug":"biofilm-biofertiliser-project-offers-a-low-cost-alternative-to-synthetic-fertilisers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2025\/03\/03\/biofilm-biofertiliser-project-offers-a-low-cost-alternative-to-synthetic-fertilisers\/","title":{"rendered":"Biofilm biofertiliser project offers a low-cost alternative to synthetic fertilisers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Network members<a href=\"https:\/\/bionema.com\/\"> Bionema Group<\/a> are at the forefront of the development of a groundbreaking project, <em>Biofilm Biofertiliser<\/em> which aims to cut synthetic fertiliser use by 40-50%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using a novel multi-species biofilm-based biofertiliser and harnessing UK-native plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB), it enhances soil quality and crop health, boosting yields by 20-30%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The biofertiliser, available as water-dispersible granules (WDG) or encapsulated formulations, improves nutrient availability and soil health, with a targeted 24-month shelf life. Funded by <a href=\"https:\/\/iuk-business-connect.org.uk\/programme\/european\/horizon-europe\/?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_campaign=dsit&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAw5W-BhAhEiwApv4goExdCVM888GU1_QttQfh6gswk62wmNHJpT1PZw_EWfH2mdpKtKGnNBoCbAQQAvD_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds\">Innovate UK<\/a>, the project is led by Bionema Group, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uk-cpi.com\">CPI<\/a>, and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ukagritechcentre.com\">UK Agri-Tech Centre<\/a>, with UK field trials involving three farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This sustainable alternative lowers costs, enhances crop yields, and reduces nutrient run-off while supporting UK production, decreasing import reliance. It aligns with UK and EU targets to cut synthetic fertiliser use by 20% by 2030 and advances sustainability goals like Zero Hunger and Responsible Consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are many economic benefits including generating employment and revenue from new product formulations, established global partnerships and increased export opportunities whilst establishing the UK as a leader in biocontrol technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, technology integration will streamline farming practices, promoting sustainable agriculture and resilience whilst the innovation will drive the biocontrol and biofertiliser sector forward, encouraging a shift from synthetic to bio-based solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The project will optimise and validate WDG and encapsulated formulations through lab and field trials across crops like strawberries, potatoes, wheat, and ornamentals. It will evaluate factors such as nutrient uptake, soil health, and sprayability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Dr. Minshad Ansari, CEO of Bionema,<\/strong> calls the project a &#8220;<em>significant step towards a more sustainable and resilient agricultural future&#8230; empowering farmers with bio-based solutions<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CPI\u2019s Kris Wadrop<\/strong> added that it has &#8220;<em>potential to revolutionise soil health and reduce reliance on synthetic fertilisers<\/em>&#8220;, while <strong>Richard Glass of the UK Agri-Tech Centre<\/strong> emphasises that the develpoment will &#8220;<em>increase the economic and environmental sustainability of crop production&#8230; reduce GHG emissions.<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This initiative integrates cutting-edge technology with practical farming solutions, setting a new standard for environmentally responsible agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"246\" height=\"63\" data-attachment-id=\"2605\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2025\/03\/03\/biofilm-biofertiliser-project-offers-a-low-cost-alternative-to-synthetic-fertilisers\/bionema\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Bionema.png?fit=246%2C63&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"246,63\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Bionema\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Bionema.png?fit=246%2C63&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Bionema.png?resize=246%2C63&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2605\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Bionema.png?w=246&amp;ssl=1 246w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Bionema.png?resize=18%2C5&amp;ssl=1 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 246px) 100vw, 246px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Network members Bionema Group are at the forefront of the development of a groundbreaking project, Biofilm Biofertiliser which aims to cut synthetic fertiliser use by 40-50%. Using a novel multi-species biofilm-based biofertiliser and harnessing UK-native plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB), it enhances soil quality and crop health, boosting yields by 20-30%. The biofertiliser, available as water-dispersible [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190346150,"featured_media":2602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1366],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wordpress-1.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfwlnl-FU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1424,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2024\/07\/17\/nniish-member-bionema-wins-kings-award-for-enterprise-for-its-greener-way-to-tackle-crop-pests\/","url_meta":{"origin":2598,"position":0},"title":"NNIISH Member Bionema Wins King&#8217;s Award for Enterprise, for its Greener Way to Tackle Crop Pests","author":"meganchick1","date":"17th July 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The King\u2019s Awards for Enterprise, the pinnacle of recognition for UK businesses, have announced that their prestigious Innovation category award has been won by Bionema Group Ltd, a spin-out company from Swansea University. The accolade celebrates Bionema\u2019s groundbreaking NemaTrident, a revolutionary eco-friendly biological solution for crop pest management. As a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Wordpress.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Wordpress.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Wordpress.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Wordpress.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Wordpress.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3692,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2025\/10\/15\/case-study-understanding-consumer-perceptions-of-foraged-and-wild-ingredients\/","url_meta":{"origin":2598,"position":1},"title":"Case Study: Understanding Consumer Perceptions of Foraged and Wild Ingredients\u00a0\u00a0","author":"meganchick1","date":"15th October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Really Wild Emporium project explored consumer perceptions, preferences, and trade-offs associated with products containing foraged or wild ingredients. The research aimed to uncover the psychological and social barriers that influence consumer acceptance of these products, as well as opportunities to promote sustainable, health-supporting choices through foraged ingredients.\u00a0 The first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Study&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Study","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/category\/case-study\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Wordpress-2.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Wordpress-2.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Wordpress-2.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Wordpress-2.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Wordpress-2.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":644,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2024\/04\/16\/swansea-bay-city-deal-digital-infrastructure-scholarship-opportunities\/","url_meta":{"origin":2598,"position":2},"title":"Swansea Bay City Deal Digital Infrastructure Scholarship Opportunities","author":"meganchick1","date":"16th April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"We are pleased to announce three, fully-funded PhD studentships available for 2024\/2025. The projects will be aligned to the Swansea Bay City Deal (SBCD) Digital Infrastructure project that is part of NNIISH.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"National Network for Innovation in Sport & Health base at Swansea University","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Wordpress-Featured-Image.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Wordpress-Featured-Image.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Wordpress-Featured-Image.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Wordpress-Featured-Image.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Wordpress-Featured-Image.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2312,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2025\/01\/16\/transforming-south-west-wales-the-impact-of-campuses-and-the-swansea-bay-city-deal\/","url_meta":{"origin":2598,"position":3},"title":"Transforming South West Wales: The Impact of our Network and Swansea Bay City Deal","author":"meganchick1","date":"16th January 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Swansea Bay City Deal represents a groundbreaking investment of approximately \u00a31.26 billion by 2033, driven by a partnership between the Welsh Government, UK Government, public sector, and private sector across Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot and Pembrokeshire. This transformative initiative is creating a region where businesses thrive, residents access high-quality\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Wordpress-7.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Wordpress-7.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Wordpress-7.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Wordpress-7.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Wordpress-7.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":518,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2023\/11\/21\/swansea-university-to-develop-world-first-research-and-innovation-living-lab\/","url_meta":{"origin":2598,"position":4},"title":"SWANSEA UNIVERSITY TO DEVELOP WORLD-FIRST RESEARCH AND INNOVATION \u201cLIVING LAB\u201d","author":"meganchick1","date":"21st November 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Swansea University is set to develop a world-first research and innovation environment that harnesses 5G infrastructure to improve population health and wellbeing, with the award of a \u00a32.58M project that will create a \u201cliving laboratory\u201d in the Swansea Bay City Region. This \u201cliving lab\u201d, will support innovation of original device\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Hilary-Clinton-Vodafone.webp?fit=1200%2C567&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Hilary-Clinton-Vodafone.webp?fit=1200%2C567&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Hilary-Clinton-Vodafone.webp?fit=1200%2C567&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Hilary-Clinton-Vodafone.webp?fit=1200%2C567&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Hilary-Clinton-Vodafone.webp?fit=1200%2C567&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3953,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2026\/01\/27\/swansea-ineos-grenadiers-collaboration-to-help-transform-elite-cycling-talent-identification\/","url_meta":{"origin":2598,"position":5},"title":"Swansea\u2013INEOS Grenadiers collaboration to help transform elite cycling talent identification","author":"meganchick1","date":"27th January 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Swansea University has partnered with INEOS Grenadiers to develop cutting-edge data and AI solutions that could revolutionise how emerging talent is identified in professional cycling. 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