Healthy soil with symbiotics (SYMBIOTICS)

The business concept of Smartsoil, and the aim of Smartsoil product development is to apply the functional properties of microbes to improve soil health and thereby plant health, and ultimately planetary health. Our approach will simultaneously help reduce climate change and the environmental impact of food production through increased carbon sequestration and reduced need for pesticides and artificial fertilizers. The qualification project has supported the sellection of the top three of many and diverse segments where this technology will have the greatest impact. As most microbes cannot be grown in laboratory or produced in industrial scale, the best sources of microbes are composts. Commercial composts are often of questionable quality and lack the broad biodiversity needed to be a good soil supplement. Commercial composts also lack documentation of the microbial composition and presence of pathogenetic species. For this reason, conventional farmers hesitate to use compost. This shows a need in the market for a "diagnostic tool" to determine the state of soil health and high-quality soil amendment products to treat sick-soil. Our DNA sequencing-based diagnostic service will help define the health state and microbial composition of production soil. The compost-based treatment products we are developing are analysed, well documented, and the chemical, nutritional and microbial biodiversity is mapped. Our composts have been scanned for the presence of 350 plant pathogens and our production methods and recipes differentiates the product from other products on the market, resulting in a rich and well-balanced microbiota. Based on data from UiO and the role of biodiversity of soil microbiota, the qualification project has enabled a broad and deep dive into a wide and diverse set of market segments, from kindergardens and graveyards to seed, fruit and vegetable production. The project purpose was to reviel the top three segments where products and solutions to diagnose and amend soil health has the most impact (create the most value).The project resulted in Smartsoil sellecting three specific crop-land (fruits/berries/vegetables) producers, cemeteries and a subset of parks as the most favourable, "first mover" segments. Continued work will base testing and product adjustments to accomodate these three segments.

Med kunnskap om jordmikrobiota som utgangspunkt, utvikler Smartsoil verktøy for «diagnose» av jordhelse og «terapi» av syk jord gjennom DNA analyse og tilføring av mikrober og næringsstoffer. Utfordringen så langt har vært at vi har identifisert utallige plante- og matproduksjonssegmenter samt mange andre segmenter knyttet til jord, som kan ha nytte av våre produkter og tjenester. Gjennom kvalifiseringsprosjektet har vi kunnet gjøre først en bred screening med påfølgende dypdykk i mangfoldet av ulike markedssegmenter, alt fra barnehager og kirkegårder til frø-, frukt-, bær- og grønnsaksprodusenter. Prosjektets formål har vært å velge ut tre segmenter der produkter og løsninger for å diagnostisere og bedre jordhelse har størst effekt (skaper mest verdi). Prosjektet har resultert i at Smartsoil har kunnet velge ut tre typer matprodusenter (av frukt/bær/grønnsaker), kirkegårder og en undergruppe av parker som "first mover"-segmenter vi skal fokusere på i vårt videre arbeid som vil bestå i testing og produkt-justeringer tilpasset disse tre segmentene.