Israel Chemicals Limited (ICL), a multinational specialty minerals and chemicals company has announced a long term strategic partnership with Pune based agri biologicals innovator BioPrime AgriSolutions. At its core, the partnership aims to deliver next generation soil and crop health solutions across India, leveraging the advanced capabilities of BioPrime’s BioNexus platform.
The partnership will address the critical issue of improving Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE), especially for phosphorus (P) and zinc (Zn), two of the most limiting and expensive nutrients for Indian farmers. Despite accounting for nearly 12% of global phosphate consumption, India’s agriculture remains import dependent, with up to 85% of applied phosphorus getting locked or leached due to soil conditions. Meanwhile, zinc deficiency affects 48% of Indian soils, a figure expected to climb to as high as 63% as fertility declines, especially in the Southern states.
Boosting Phosphorus Efficiency
In India, most applied phosphorus becomes locked with iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al), unlike in many other regions where it more commonly binds with calcium (Ca), a far simpler complex. As a result, most existing solutions fail to release plant available phosphorus, making it a persistent challenge as Phosphorus Use Efficiency (PUE) continues to decline.
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BioPrime’s BioNexus platform has potentially uncovered microbial strains capable of freeing phosphorus from complex Fe/Al bound forms, which could improve phosphorus use efficiency two to three times and transform nutrient management in India.. The platform has also revealed strains that may solubilize 65–70% of zinc, an achievement that could meaningfully increase the availability of zinc under real world farming conditions. Together, these solutions could enable farmers to optimize resources, improve nutrient uptake, and minimize fertilizer waste, while maintaining precision, consistency, and rigorous quality standards.
ICL-BioPrime Scaling Sustainable Farming Solutions
This collaboration represents the first partnership involving BioPrime’s BioNexus Library, a proprietary collection of more than 18,000 unique microbial strains, each with potential attributes to enhance soil and crop health. BioPrime AgriSolutions aims to harness biology to address agriculture’s toughest challenges. Its strategic partnership with ICL strengthens the company’s ability to deliver innovative, next generation solutions for soil and crop health.
ICLs support gives us the scale, expertise, and reach to bring our pioneering Bionexus platform to millions of farmers in India. Together, we will deliver next-generation solutions that improve nutrient use efficiency, restore soil health, and transform agriculture into a more resilient and sustainable system.
ICL Growing Solutions India aims to advance sustainable agriculture through innovative biofertilizers that enhance resilience, productivity, and soil health. By integrating bio-stimulants with its R&D driven WSF portfolio, ICL aims to help farmers improve yields and profitability, positioning biofertilizers as a key driver of India’s future farming while supporting food security and sustainable growth.