Developed by Pivot Bio, a sustainable agricultural company that uses microbes to deliver nitrogen to plants as an alternative to synthetic fertilizers. Pivot Bio’s technology pinpoints a microbe natural to a crop’s specific microbiome with the genetic code for nitrogen fixation. All genetic changes to the microbe are within its genome and applied during the planting phase, where they bind to the root and continuously fix nitrogen throughout the growing season. The technology enables microbes to convert atmospheric nitrogen to plant-available nitrogen (ammonia) for crop delivery, which is safer to handle and does not run off into waterways. Microbes are produced through fermentation, which requires only water, sugar, and basic nutrients to reproduce to the necessary concentration. Compared to manufacturing and using synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, Pivot Bio’s fermenting and implementing microbes require significantly less energy and produce minimal greenhouse gas emissions. Products include PROVEN® 40 (microbes that supply nitrogen to corn) and RETURN® (for wheat, sorghum, and small grains like barley, millet, oats, and sunflower).
