Rethink Symbio
Currently nitrogen fertilizer alone contributes to 2.4% of global emissions, and excess application of N-fertilizer causes nitrous oxide emissions equivalent to 6.8M tons of CO2 annually. Rethink Symbio delivers a microbe-based fertilizer designed to prevent excess fertilizer application and carbon intensive synthetic fertilizer manufacturing processes. We study high yielding healthy plants and identify strains that are beneficial to the plant and resistant to being outcompeted by others in soil, create base formulations for broad crop categories (ie legumes, citrus, etc.), and then deliver custom formulations accounting for the specific crop type, soil sample that farmers send us, and local seasonal weather patterns.
- Yi-An Hsieh, University of Pennsylvania
- Parth Mody, University of Pennsylvania