How integrating beneficial microorganisms directly onto the granule of a mineral fertilizer is changing the approach to field-crop nutrition and helping plants make the fullest possible use of every kilogram of applied fertilizer.
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Modern crop production is caught in a difficult situation: mineral fertilizer application rates keep rising, prices rise with them, yet nutrient use efficiency has remained low for years. Most of the applied phosphorus and potassium never reaches the plant: it gets fixed in the soil, converted into hard-to-access forms, or leached away. The logic of "apply more so that at least something is taken up" has long exhausted itself. The strategic task is to ensure that the nutrients already applied to the field are actually used by the crop. Why "more fertilizer" no longer works
Even under intensive fertilization, plants use only a small fraction of the applied nutrients, and this is a challenge shared by growers in every region. There are several reasons, all of them well known to agronomists: is rapidly fixed in acidic and alkaline soils, turning into forms the root cannot absorb. is bound within mineral structures and is released slowly; during periods of intensive crop growth the plant simply cannot get it in time. is often insufficiently active, especially on fields with intensive rotation and a high chemical load. The result: a nutrient deficit at critical growth stages even when total reserves are more than adequate. Increasing the application rate is an expensive, environmentally questionable solution that, as practice shows, delivers a linear gain only up to a certain point. The logical solution is to raise not the application rate, but the use efficiency of the nutrients that have already been applied. And this is exactly where biological agents enter the stage.
The biological move: phosphorus- and potassium-mobilizers
There is a group of bacteria from the genera Bacillus and Paenibacillus, as well as the species Priestia megaterium, that possess unique metabolic properties. The microbial consortium of the product comprises five species: Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis, Paenibacillus mucilaginosus and Paenibacillus polymyxa, and Priestia megaterium (formerly Bacillus megaterium var. phosphaticum). Together they transform fixed phosphorus and potassium compounds into plant-available forms: they release organic acids, enzymes, phytohormones and chelating compounds that "unlock" the bound elements and, at the same time, stimulate plant development. Each group within the consortium plays its own role. The bacilli (B. subtilis, B. licheniformis) stimulate plant growth, and mobilize phosphorus. The Paenibacillus strains (P. mucilaginosus, P. polymyxa) produce phosphatase, phytohormones, antibiotics and a broad spectrum of lytic enzymes, while their exopolysaccharides improve soil structure. Priestia megaterium releases phosphorus from organic and mineral bound compounds and produces silicase, an enzyme that increases the mobility of silicon and potassium. This is not a new idea. The question has always been a different one: how to deliver these bacteria technologically and efficiently, in the right volume, to the right spot in the field, at the right moment, and without complicating logistics for the grower.
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The microbial consortium: five species, selected from more than ten strains, that work in synergy as phosphorus- and potassium-mobilizers. Microbial Coating: when the granule itself becomes the carrier of bacteria
A fundamentally different approach is to integrate the biological component directly into the carrier of the mineral fertilizer, that is, to apply the consortium of beneficial microorganisms onto every granule of mineral NPK at the production stage. This technology is called Microbial Coating, and it was brought to life within a joint project of two companies, BTU and BINFIELD. The principle is straightforward: a specially selected microbial consortium is sprayed evenly and in a metered dose onto the granules of a high-quality mineral fertilizer. Each granule carries an optimal quantity of microorganisms, determined experimentally.
What it delivers in practice
Each granule simultaneously becomes a source of nutrients and a carrier of a biological activator that helps the plant absorb those nutrients. The distribution of bacteria across the field is as uniform as the distribution of the fertilizer itself, with no risk of "patches" or gaps. The grower performs one field operation instead of two, with no extra machinery passes and no cost of a separate biological product. The technology is flexible: it can be adapted to different fertilizer grades and the consortium composition can be customized to the agrochemical profile of a specific soil.
Why it stays alive at all: spore forms of bacteria
The key technological question of Microbial Coating: how to keep the bacteria viable after they are applied to the granule, within a finished product that is stored in a warehouse for weeks and months, transported, and finally placed into soil of varying moisture and temperature. Vegetative bacterial cells die quickly under such conditions. The answer lies in spore forms. Thanks to their multilayer coat, spores are protected from desiccation and from the high osmotic concentration of salts in the mineral fertilizer. They essentially "fall asleep" and retain the ability to germinate at the right moment. BTU's laboratory studies have confirmed that spore forms of bacteria applied to a mineral fertilizer granule remain viable for up to 12 months across a temperature range of 6 to 30 °C. This means the product can be stored and transported under conditions typical for agriculture, with no cold chain and no special logistics. In a favorable environment, with optimal soil moisture, temperature and the presence of nutrients, the spores germinate into active vegetative forms. It is these that mobilize hard-to-access phosphorus and potassium compounds, accelerate the mineralization of organic compounds.
Synergy, not a sum
A mineral fertilizer on its own and a biological product on its own each deliver their own effect. Combined within a single granule, they work in synergy: the plant receives fast starter nutrition from the mineral component, while the biological one simultaneously "unlocks" the share of applied nutrients that would otherwise be fixed by the soil and unavailable to the crop. The outcome: stable and complete uptake of the applied fertilizer throughout the entire growing season, not just in the first weeks after application. It is precisely this synergistic effect that is the core value of the technology. Not "fertilizer plus a biological in the tank," but an integrated solution in which both components are pre-matched to work together.
From idea to industrial production: five years of work
Microbial Coating is the result of years of R&D by two companies. In 2020, BTU (a biotech company with its own research center and microorganism collection) and BINFIELD (a mineral fertilizer producer) were united by one idea: to create a new type of product, a complex fertilizer that not only contains N, P and K but also actively increases how efficiently those elements are taken up by the plant. Over this period more than ten strains from BTU's microorganism museum were tested, the most effective phosphorus- and potassium-mobilizers were selected, the technology for applying them onto the granule was developed, and numerous laboratory and field trials were carried out. In 2025, industrial production began, and the product was named FERTIS ACTIVE NPK. Field trial resultsThe trials were conducted over several years on key field crops under varying soil and climatic conditions. According to R&D data, the average yield gain was:: +0. 25 t/ha;: +0. 3 t/ha;: +0. 35 t/ha;: +0. 3 t/ha. Among the documented results are trials with combine yield mapping, which recorded the gain within individual sections of the field, and trials with visual assessment of crop condition during active growth stages. In all cases, clear visual differences in plant development were observed on the treated part of the field. It was the consistency of this result, rather than a one-off effect on a single crop or under a single set of conditions, that became the basis for moving to industrial production.
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Soybean field trial: clear visual differences in plant development on the treated plot. .png)
Combine yield mapping of winter barley: an objective confirmation of the yield gain. "BTU consistently works to make biological solutions a full-fledged part of modern agricultural technologies. The joint project with BINFIELD confirmed that combining a mineral fertilizer and a microbiological component in a single product gives growers a new level of efficiency. "Vladyslav Bolokhovskyi, CEO and co-founder of the BTU Biotech Company "We brought together accumulated experience, effective technological solutions and practicality in one ready-to-use product. For the grower, it means that within a single operation they receive both quality fertilization and improved availability of nutrients from the soil's reserves. " Oleksiy Hrabovskyi, Director of Agro-Service and co-founder of BINFIELD
In place of a conclusion: a technology, not a product
The coating of biological agents onto a mineral fertilizer granule is not just another product on the shelf. It is a different approach to optimizing crop nutrition: the microorganisms help plants make the fullest possible use of the nutrients delivered by every kilogram of applied fertilizer. The efficiency of the nutrition system grows not through higher application rates, but through the complete uptake of what has already been applied. In today's conditions, when the cost of every hectare keeps rising and the market demands predictable yields, integrating biological agents directly into the carriers of mineral fertilizers looks like one of the most promising directions for the development of agriculture. The BTU and BINFIELD case shows that this direction has already moved out of R&D laboratories and onto an industrial scale.
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