Swiss fertilizer group EuroChem has signed a research and development agreement with Belgian biotech Aphea.Bio. The companies will collaborate on developing next-generation fertilizer technologies that will be designed to significantly boost plants’ take-up of key nutrients. The research will use data and samples from scientific field trials at 10 different locations across Europe.

EuroChem, one of just three companies in the world that produces fertilizers in all three primary nutrient categories (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), is developing enhanced efficiency and slow-release fertilizers that are optimized for different soil conditions, improving yields and enabling farmers to grow more crops from the same amount of land.  The increased nutrient uptake also minimizes losses to the environment.

“We are delighted to have signed EuroChem as our first commercial partner,” said Isabel Vercauteren, Aphea.Bio’s CEO. “EuroChem has deep expertise in the mineral fertilizer sector and we look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration together.”

The companies have not disclosed commercial terms of the agreement.

Aphea.Bio, a spin-off of the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology, Ghent University and KU Leuven, specializes in researching microorganisms that closely interact with plants and their effect on agricultural crops. The company successfully raised €9 million of funding in 2017 following a successful Series A financing round and an R&D grant approved by Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Last month, EuroChem boosted its fertilizer distribution network in the US with the acquisition of Trammo’s transport and storage assets. The company also opened a new manufacturing plant at its Lifosa subsidiary in Lithuania.