Why biological performance depends on matching the formulation and delivery system to the operating environment
Biological crop protection is often discussed as though replacing a synthetic pesticide with a biological product were a simple substitution. It is not.
A biological active may perform strongly in the laboratory but still fail commercially if it does not survive storage, application and environmental exposure, reach the target in sufficient quantity, or remain active for long enough to control the pest.
Those challenges differ sharply across agriculture, horticulture, turf and amenity, and forestry. A formulation designed for a protected strawberry crop may be unsuitable for a golf green or a newly planted forest. Even when the biological active is effective, the delivery system must be designed for the crop, target, equipment, environment and application window.
This is the real challenge facing the biological crop protection industry: not simply discovering more microorganisms or natural compounds, but turning them into stable, scalable and consistently effective field solutions.
Agriculture: performance at commercial scale
Field agriculture places biological products under demanding and variable conditions. Applications may cover hundreds of hectares, using established spraying or irrigation equipment and operating within narrow weather and crop-development windows.
The biological active must remain stable during storage and tank preparation, tolerate the physical stresses of application, reach the correct part of the crop or soil, and perform despite changes in temperature, ultraviolet exposure, rainfall and moisture.
Scale also changes the commercial test. A product that works in a small plot but requires specialist handling, repeated applications or unrealistic levels of precision may not be practical for a commercial grower. Biological products must fit normal farm operations and deliver a level of consistency that justifies their cost.
This is why product development cannot stop at strain selection. Formulation, shelf life, application compatibility, delivery, timing and integration with existing crop programmes must be developed as one system.
Biological crop protection can also strengthen resistance-management programmes by introducing different modes of action. However, it should not be presented as an automatic replacement for every conventional input. The most credible route is evidence-led integration: using biological products where they can deliver reliable control, reduce dependence on synthetic chemistry and improve the resilience of the overall programme.
Horticulture: precision, residues and high-value crops
Horticulture includes open-field vegetables, soft fruit, protected crops, ornamentals and nursery production. These systems differ technically, but they share a low tolerance for crop damage, visible residues and inconsistent pest control.
For fresh produce, retailer requirements and maximum residue limits influence pesticide decisions. In protected crops, growers must also consider compatibility with beneficial insects and other biological control agents already used within integrated pest management programmes.
Glasshouses and polytunnels provide greater environmental control than open fields, but they create their own formulation challenges. Temperature and humidity can change quickly, crop canopies may be dense, and waxy or hairy leaf surfaces can limit spray coverage. A biological product must spread across the target surface, remain viable and reach pests that may be concealed within flowers, growing points or the underside of leaves.
Bionema's work against Western flower thrips illustrates the value of formulation. In UK strawberry trials, a formulated biological treatment achieved 97.5% control, compared with 58% from the unformulated biological treatment. The biological active mattered, but formulation was what translated its potential into substantially stronger performance.
That difference is commercially important. Growers do not adopt a biological product because it performs in principle. They adopt it when it protects a high-value crop reliably within a practical production programme.
Turf and amenity: narrow windows and little tolerance for failure
Golf courses, sports pitches, parks and other managed landscapes are highly visible environments. Pest damage affects surface quality, playability, repair costs and customer experience. Managers therefore have little tolerance for products that are difficult to apply or inconsistent in performance.
Leatherjackets and chafer grubs are particularly challenging because much of their damaging lifecycle occurs below ground. Successful control with entomopathogenic nematodes depends on applying the correct species and strain when the pest is susceptible, then delivering the organisms through the soil while maintaining suitable moisture conditions.
The product alone cannot compensate for incorrect timing or poor application. Soil temperature, moisture, thatch, irrigation, water volume and the movement of the nematodes into the target zone all influence the result.
Bionema trials using its nematode-based approach have achieved approximately 85–90% control of leatherjackets under suitable application conditions. The result reflects a complete system: biological selection, compatible delivery technology, correct timing and practical application guidance.
This is an important lesson for the wider biological industry. Field reliability does not come from the active ingredient alone. It comes from understanding the biological, physical and operational conditions required for that active to work.
Forestry: difficult terrain, long production cycles and high consequences
Forestry presents a different level of operational complexity. Sites can be remote, terrain and soil conditions are variable, and treatments must often be transported and applied without the infrastructure available in agriculture or protected horticulture.
The production cycle is also much longer. Failure to protect young trees during establishment can lead to losses that affect the value and productivity of a site for years.
The large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis, demonstrates the scale of this risk. Forest Research describes it as one of the most serious pests affecting newly planted or naturally regenerating woodland on UK restocking sites. Without effective protection, average losses can reach around 50% on affected sites, with complete losses possible in severe cases.
Biological control in forestry therefore requires more than laboratory virulence. Products must remain stable during storage and transport, tolerate variable field conditions and reach the pest in an environment that is difficult to treat uniformly.
Bionema has developed and tested biological approaches against large pine weevil over several years, recording more than 70% control in trials. The work shows that biological solutions can contribute meaningfully to integrated forest pest management when the organism, formulation, delivery method and application strategy are developed together.
Four sectors, four different performance barriers
The target may be different in each sector, but the development question is the same: what prevents the biological active from performing reliably under commercial conditions?
In field agriculture, the limiting factor may be scale, weather exposure or compatibility with existing equipment. In horticulture, it may be coverage of difficult plant surfaces, compatibility with beneficial organisms or protection of a high-value crop. In turf, it may be movement through hydrophobic soil and a narrow pest-development window. In forestry, it may be storage, transport, variable terrain and access to the target.
These are not minor application details. They determine whether a biological product becomes commercially useful.
The role of formulation and delivery platforms
Bionema has built its business around the principle that biological performance depends on combining the right active with the right formulation and delivery system.
Incapsulex®
Incapsulex® is Bionema's patented microencapsulation platform. It is designed to protect biological and other active ingredients within specialised delivery systems, with the objective of improving stability, controlled delivery and performance under practical application conditions.
Microencapsulation is not a universal solution for every biological. Its value depends on the active ingredient, target and application route. Where technically appropriate, however, it can help address some of the stability and delivery limitations that prevent promising actives from becoming reliable commercial products.
Adhesulex™
Adhesulex™ addresses physical delivery barriers. Technologies within the platform are designed for specific functions, including soil wetting and movement, foliar spreading, adhesion and retention.
This distinction matters. A soil-applied nematode programme has different delivery requirements from a foliar microbial treatment. The appropriate delivery technology must be selected and tested for the biological active, target surface and application method. Compatibility with living organisms is essential.
BiofilmTech®
BiofilmTech® focuses on beneficial microorganisms used in plant health and nutrition. It is being developed to improve microbial establishment, persistence and activity around the root zone, supporting biofertiliser, biostimulant and nutrient-use-efficiency applications.
BiofilmTech® therefore complements Bionema's crop-protection technologies, but it should not be confused with a general coating or encapsulation system. Its role is to help beneficial microbial consortia establish and function effectively in the rhizosphere.
Together, these platforms allow Bionema to address biological crop protection, plant health and crop nutrition at more than one level. The company is not dependent on a single product, organism or sector.
What this means for biological product development
Many biological development programmes begin with the question: which strain or natural active should we use?
That question is necessary, but it is incomplete.
Commercial development should also ask:
- What conditions will the product encounter during manufacturing, storage and application?
- Where is the target, and what prevents the active from reaching it?
- Which environmental conditions limit survival or activity?
- Can the product be used with standard commercial equipment?
- Is it compatible with other inputs and beneficial organisms in the programme?
- What level of field performance and consistency will the customer require?
- Can the formulation and manufacturing process be scaled economically?
Answering these questions early can prevent years of development being invested in an active that cannot be translated into a practical product.
A platform model creates broader commercial value
For distributors and crop-protection companies, access to a finished product can address an immediate portfolio gap. Access to formulation, delivery and development capability can create a broader opportunity.
A platform can potentially support multiple actives, products, crops and markets. It can also give partners different routes to value, including finished-product licensing, co-development, distribution, manufacturing partnerships and technology transfer.
Bionema has already demonstrated that it can translate biological research into commercially valuable technology. In 2021, Syngenta Crop Protection acquired two Bionema bioinsecticides, NemaTrident® and UniSpore®, together with supporting technology and intellectual property. That transaction provides external validation of Bionema's ability to develop biological crop-protection technologies of interest to a global industry partner.
The next generation of successful biological products will not be built by biology alone. It will come from combining biological efficacy with formulation science, delivery technology, manufacturing, regulatory strategy and practical application knowledge.
This is what we mean when we say: Bionema makes biologicals work.
Building the right partnership around the problem
Bionema works with distributors, manufacturers and crop-protection companies across agriculture, horticulture, turf and amenity, and forestry.
The strongest starting point is not simply a request for a product catalogue. It is a clearly defined commercial problem: a crop or pest requiring a new solution, an active ingredient requiring better formulation, a portfolio gap created by regulatory or resistance pressure, or a market that needs access to proven biological technology.
Bionema can then assess whether the opportunity is best addressed through an existing product, Incapsulex®, Adhesulex™, a co-development programme, licensing or technology transfer.
To discuss a defined biological crop-protection, formulation or delivery opportunity, contact Bionema at bionema.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the same biological product be used across agriculture, horticulture, turf and forestry?
Not automatically. The biological active may have relevance across several sectors, but its formulation, delivery method, application rate, timing and handling requirements must be developed and validated for each use environment.
Why do biological products sometimes perform well in the laboratory but inconsistently in the field?
Field conditions introduce stresses that are absent or controlled in laboratory studies. Temperature, ultraviolet exposure, moisture, rainfall, water quality, plant surfaces, soil conditions, application equipment and timing can all affect whether a biological active reaches the target and remains viable.
Is microencapsulation suitable for every biological active?
No. Microencapsulation must be evaluated against the characteristics of the active ingredient, target, formulation and application route. It can be valuable where protection, stability or controlled delivery are limiting factors, but it is not a universal solution.
What is the difference between Incapsulex®, Adhesulex™ and BiofilmTech®?
Incapsulex® is a microencapsulation platform. Adhesulex™ addresses delivery functions such as soil movement, spreading, adhesion and retention. BiofilmTech® focuses on the establishment and activity of beneficial microorganisms around the plant root zone for plant health and nutrition.
Are biological products automatically easier to register than synthetic pesticides?
No. Biological crop-protection products still require appropriate regulatory authorisation and supporting evidence. The requirements depend on the active, product claims, intended use and jurisdiction. Regulatory strategy must be built into the development programme from the beginning.
What partnership models does Bionema offer?
Bionema works through product licensing, distribution, co-development, manufacturing partnerships and technology transfer. The appropriate structure depends on the technology, geography, sector, development stage and partner capability.
Written by Dr Minshad Ansari, Founder and CEO of Bionema Group.
