Regenerative agriculture: biotechnology to restore soil health and produce more sustainably

Agriculture faces the challenge of ensuring food production in a context of increasing pressure on essential resources such as soil and water, as well as the growing impacts of climate change. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), more than 60% of human-induced land degradation occurs on agricultural land, while agriculture accounts for more than 70% of global freshwater withdrawals. In addition, around 1.7 billion people currently live in areas where crop yields have declined by at least 10% as a result of human-induced land degradation.

The challenge is particularly significant in Europe. An estimated 60% to 70% of soils in the European Union are considered unhealthy, affected by processes such as erosion, loss of carbon and nutrients, compaction, contamination and soil sealing. This pressure is compounded by the impact of climate change: in 2025, severe drought affected nearly 928,000 km² across Europe, while around 112,000 km² of cropland failed to recover their usual levels of vegetation productivity, according to data from the European Environment Agency.

Against this backdrop, regenerative agriculture aims to advance towards production models that not only reduce their environmental impact, but also restore soil health and fertility, promote biodiversity, improve resource management and increase crop resilience to adverse environmental conditions.

Biotechnology provides new tools to drive this transformation. Understanding and harnessing soil microorganisms, developing biofertilisers and biostimulants, using microalgae-based solutions and applying omics technologies to better understand the agricultural microbiome can help influence some of the biological processes that determine soil health, nutrient availability and crop development.

On the occasion of World Agriculture Day, celebrated on 9 September, at AseBio we explore how biotechnology innovation can contribute to advancing towards more sustainable and regenerative agriculture. To do so, we spoke with our member Phoenix Biosolutions, which develops microalgae- and biostimulant-based solutions designed to improve soil health and crop resilience while reducing dependence on chemical inputs.

Microalgae and biostimulants: new solutions for more resilient crops

Among the solutions gaining prominence in regenerative agriculture are microalgae-based biostimulants. Their potential lies, among other factors, in their extraordinary metabolic diversity. Peptides and amino acids, polysaccharides and exopolysaccharides, betaines, sterols, carotenoids, phenolic compounds, vitamins and micronutrients can all be extracted from the same biomass.

This diversity makes it possible to develop biostimulants capable of acting both on the soil and on the plant itself. As Carlos Rodríguez-Villa Förster, CEO and Founding Partner of Phoenix Biosolutions, explains, “this diversity makes it possible to formulate biostimulants that act simultaneously on the soil and the plant, which is exactly what a regenerative approach requires.”

In the soil, microalgae activate readily available carbon and nitrogen cycles, providing nutrients for microorganisms and plants. Their exopolysaccharides also promote the formation and stability of soil aggregates, with direct effects on soil structure, water retention and cation exchange capacity. The stimulation of microbial communities, such as mycorrhizae and plant growth-promoting bacteria, helps improve nutrient cycling and the availability of phosphorus and micronutrients that are already present in the soil but cannot be used by crops.

Microalgae can also act directly on plants through foliar application. In this case, they help activate stress tolerance mechanisms and can support subsequent recovery, while also promoting a denser, more exploratory root architecture. The aim is to achieve crops with a greater capacity to absorb water and nutrients and to withstand and recover from drought, salinity and heat stress.

These properties are complemented by the sustainability of their production. Microalgae are produced by fixing CO₂ without competing for agricultural land or high-quality freshwater. For Rodríguez-Villa, using these organisms is, in a way, about “going back to the origins of plants to find the solution for the future.”

From biotechnology development to application in the field

However, developing new biological solutions is only part of the challenge. Their effective adoption in agriculture requires them to be produced and used competitively and at scale. One of the issues identified by Phoenix Biosolutions relates to the very nature of liquid biostimulants: much of their composition is water and, under the conventional model, they may travel thousands of kilometres from a central production facility to the place where they are ultimately used. In addition to the costs and carbon footprint associated with transport, these are biological products that are sensitive to time and temperature and may lose activity along the way.

To address this issue, Phoenix Biosolutions proposes a Technology as a Service model based on bringing production technology to the point of use rather than transporting the finished product. Cooperatives, distributors or farms themselves can therefore have local production capacity and pay for access to the technology and service.

According to Rodríguez-Villa, this approach allows farmers to have access to a fresh, biologically active product at the time of application, reduce and make the cost per hectare more predictable, tailor the solution to the specific characteristics of the crop, soil, water and stress calendar, and benefit from a more resilient supply chain that is less dependent on imports.

However, scaling up these innovations still requires overcoming several barriers. Phoenix identifies four key elements: robust agronomic evidence through independent trials and comparable metrics; a regulatory framework that enables or encourages the adoption of innovative technologies; stronger training and technical advice; and progress in automation and ease of use.

Training is particularly important because incorporating biological solutions also requires changes in agricultural practices. “Adopting biological solutions is not about replacing one product with another: it requires a change in management,” Rodríguez-Villa explains, adding that “without technical support, even the best technology will not make it to the field.”

Another key factor is ensuring that the scientific and technological complexity behind these solutions is not passed on to the user. Phoenix works to integrate aspects such as strain selection, cultivation conditions, hydrolysis processes, production algorithms and product stabilisation into its system. The ultimate goal is to ensure that farmers can benefit from biotechnology without needing to understand the complex processes that make these solutions possible.

In this way, innovation in microalgae and biostimulants offers a twofold pathway for advancing regenerative agriculture: developing solutions that improve soil health and crop resilience while, at the same time, creating new models that enable these innovations to reach the field effectively and competitively.