Bayer plans to launch eight biological crop inputs in Brazil by 2030 as the company seeks to expand its presence in a fast-growing segment of the crop protection market. The launches are part of a broader pipeline of 17 products planned for Latin America.
Four of the products will focus on biological crop protection, while the other four will aim to improve plant performance and productivity. The first, Curvet, entered the Brazilian market in 2026, targeting the 2026/27 soybean season.
Curvet is designed to improve plants’ access to nitrogen and phosphorus already present in the soil. Applied directly to crops, the product stimulates plants to release natural compounds that attract soil microorganisms. Those microbes, in turn, enhance nitrogen fixation and help make phosphorus more available to plants.
“We’re essentially recruiting microorganisms that are already present in the soil,” Antônio Soares, Bayer’s head of Biologicals for Latin America, told The AgriBiz. “It’s a unique and innovative way of improving productivity, which is ultimately what regenerative agriculture is all about.”
Field trials conducted across eight Brazilian states over four growing seasons showed an average soybean yield increase of three 60-kilogram bags per hectare, equivalent to 180 kilograms per hectare.
The trials were carried out by Bayer and Sound Agriculture, a US company backed by Bayer that co-developed the product, with oversight from independent agricultural consulting firms.
Before Curvet’s introduction, Bayer marketed three biological agricultural inputs in Brazil: Bayfolan, an organomineral fertilizer combining nitrogen, amino acids and copper sulfate; Vinemco, a biological nematicide; and Serenade, a microbial fungicide.
The company now intends to broaden that portfolio while making biological solutions more readily identifiable to farmers.
As part of the strategy, Bayer has reorganized its biologicals business and introduced a dedicated brand, Biológicos Bayer, separating its biological offerings from conventional crop protection products.
“The goal is to give farmers greater clarity,” said Luis Offa, Bayer’s senior vice president of Crop Protection and Biologicals for Latin America. “Whether at a trade show or through marketing materials, we want them to immediately recognize whether they’re looking at a biological or a conventional solution.”
Bayer executives declined to disclose revenue or growth targets for the biologicals business in Latin America.
Globally, Bob Reiter, head of Bayer’s Crop Science division, said in 2024 that the company expected biological product sales to exceed 1.5 billion euros by 2035.
Asked whether that target remained in place, Bayer said the figure reflected projections made at the time of the announcement but did not provide an updated forecast.
Brazil’s Biodiversity Fuels Innovation
Bayer sees significant opportunities to develop new biological crop technologies by tapping into Brazil’s vast microbial biodiversity.
“A single tablespoon of soil contains 15 billion microbial cells, while all the products registered in Brazil today encompass just 1,000 mapped microorganisms,” Soares said.
To unlock that potential, Bayer is pursuing three complementary strategies: licensing existing commercial products, co-developing new technologies and discovering microorganisms through strategic partnerships.
In Brazil, the discovery effort includes a partnership with Ideelab, a biotechnology startup based in Piracicaba, São Paulo state.
Founded eight years ago, Ideelab brings together scientists specializing in biotechnology to develop products in collaboration with agricultural companies. Its business model effectively allows it to operate as an extension of major companies’ research and development operations.
“Over time, we’ve explored microorganisms and molecules found in Brazilian biodiversity and built a microbial database,” said Ronaldo José Durigan Dalio, Ideelab’s founder. “We now have so much data that we can use artificial intelligence to help guide our decisions.”
When a company such as Bayer approaches Ideelab with a specific challenge, the startup’s scientists search their database to identify microorganisms with the potential to address it.
After an initial screening, promising candidates are transferred to Bayer for further evaluation, with the two companies jointly testing their performance.
The partnership is focused on turning locally sourced microorganisms into commercially viable agricultural technologies adapted to tropical farming conditions.
“We work to transform them into highly efficient technologies developed exclusively from microorganisms native to Brazil and the tropical environments of Latin America,” Dalio said.
This story was translated from the original Portuguese with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by The AgriBiz editorial staff.
