Biologicals - silver bullets without a target?

Farmers are being inundated with biological products promising improved crop nutrition and protection. Yet their performance in the field remains inconsistent—sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, and the reasons why are often unclear.

Scott Jarrett, CEO of Elaniti, puts it bluntly: “In the biologicals space, we seem to have plenty of silver bullets, but we don’t actually know what the target is”. Unlocking the potential of the soil microbiome is key to improving crop performance. But to make it work for farmers, we need to better understand its impact on yields and nutrition.

That’s where NUTRIGROW comes in.

Led by Elaniti in partnership with AgAnalyst, the University of Lincoln, and the Nature Friendly Farming Network, the three-year project has secured £1m in funding from Innovate UK.

By combining machine learning with cutting-edge research, NUTRIGROW aims to help farmers harness the power of their soil biology—turning promise into real on-farm benefits.