Australian Rural & Regional News asked Rezuwan Zakaria, Nutrition Technologies R&D Manager, some further questions about the product, Diptia™ and the company itself, answered in full below the release.

Nutrition Technologies, Media Release, 8 May 2023

The product innovation

On the 5 May 2023, Nutrition Technologies launched their new bioactive organic fertiliser, Diptia™, specifically designed and formulated to combat fungal plant diseases, and protect soil from infection. Diptia™ is a patent pending Nutrition Technologies product derived from Black Soldier Fly frass, that has been composted and enhanced with a microbial biocontrol agent and insect chitin. The bacteria was isolated from the BSF larvae itself, and has been shown to inhibit plant pathogens. The chitin is sourced from the exoskeleton of the mature insect pupae and is added to the product to increase the available chitin. These components work together to protect the plant root zone from phytopathogenic fungi while improving the plant’s natural defences against disease.

The problem being solved

Fungal diseases of crops are increasingly prevalent in tropical agriculture and lack viable prevention and control measures. These diseases cause billions of dollars in losses every year, as well as posing a huge risk to food security. For example, in Malaysia alone Ganoderma boninense has infected over 151,208 Ha and generated losses of RM1.3 billion (USD300 million) per year through reduced yields and dead trees. As a soil pathogen that infects trees through the roots, the infection is often undetected for 10+ years. Similarly, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc TR4) poses an existential threat to the cavendish banana industry, worth USD25 billion annually, and makes up 99 per cent of all banana exports. Foc TR4 causes a type of Panama disease, for which there is neither an effective method of treatment nor prevention.

Conventional solutions and the need for innovation

Conventional disease control measures currently rely on fungicides and aggressive sanitization such as burning the soil. For many fungal pathogens these methods are rarely effective, where they do work they are associated with damaged soils and provide the conditions for the development of fungicide-resistance strains. Diptia™ provides a natural and potent alternative that uses multiple modes of action to both prevent the pathogen from reaching the plant roots, and improving plant defences.

Multiple modes of action future-proof the performance

Insect frass is a common nutrient source for plants in nature, and plants have complex mechanisms to benefit from frass. For instance, plants have receptors that recognize chitin in their environments – usually an indication of fungal attack – which stimulates the upregulation of their immune system in response. By reintroducing frass-based products back into agriculture, we are getting closer to the stability and resilience of a natural ecosystem. The frass of the Black Soldier Fly larvae (Hermetia illucens, BSF) have particularly powerful antifungal properties thanks to their life-history – a tropical insect that evolved in competition with fungi for access to the same nutrients. That evolutionary arms race gave the BSF powerful molecular and microbiological tools to inhibit fungi, and encourage beneficial microbes.

In addition to the plant health benefits of Diptia™, it is also a premium organic fertiliser with an attractive NPK profile, carbon content and rich micronutrients, and the high microbial activity of the product improves both soil structure and health. These elements combine in a way that means farm soil can actually improve over time, rather than becoming depleted, adding to the financial benefits of Diptia® for farmers.

Tested in the lab and in the field

Diptia™ has been rigorously evaluated in laboratory conditions( in-vitro) and in greenhouse and field conditions (in-vivo). In-vitro Diptia™ was found to inhibit Foc TR4 by up to 90 per cent and Ganoderma boninense by up to 82 per cent in multiple antifungal assays which includes disk diffusion, sample-amended medium and dual layer agar methods. Results from a third-party greenhouse pot trial with Cavendish banana and Foc TR4 indicate that Diptia® and a soon-to-be-released liquid foliar product resulted in a Disease Severity Index as low as 4.17 per cent compared to 100 per cent in the control. The trial was conducted by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noor Baity Saidi of the Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), she is also a research associate at the Laboratory of Sustainable Agronomy and Crop Protection, Institute of Plantation Studies, UPM.

“These results demonstrate a strong disease suppression potential by the Diptia™ product, which could ultimately help control this economically devastating disease for Malaysian farmers.” said Dr. Noor Baity Saidi.

The trial is a significant milestone and adds to a growing portfolio of field application trials that will soon be followed by new larger field challenge trials in banana and oil palm.

Low energy, sustainable production system

Nutrition Technologies have a low-energy tropical production system that uses a unique combination of micro-organisms and Black Soldier Flies to bioconvert 60,000 tonnes of organic by-products into value-added products for livestock and agriculture. As a tropical species, the Black Soldier Fly larvae grow quickly and efficiently in the ambient Malaysian climate, meaning that very little energy is required to grow or breed the flies. This low-energy model means that the company benefits from a very low cost of production, but with the same high standards as any European or North American manufacturer, and is able to pass-on those savings to the customer. This makes Nutrition Technologies’ products some of the most competitively priced insect products in the world, without compromising on quality or safety. The company currently ships industrial volumes of material throughout Asia, North & South America and Europe, from the two hectare factory in Malaysia.

“This is the first of two new plant health products we will be launching this year ” said Nick Piggott, Co-CEO, Nutrition Technologies. “Understanding how insects fit into the incredibly complex natural ecosystem has enabled us to harness their power for decomposition, and create a new plant health value proposition not found anywhere else in the world. Diptia™ directly addresses two of the most economically dangerous plant pathogens in the world – Ganoderma in oil palms and Fusarium oxysporum in bananas. Both of these diseases have the potential to wreak havoc on the global food supply chain if left unchecked, so the release of Diptia™ is a massive step forward in securing the future supply of these two staple crops”.

The insect sector has gathered increasing attention over the past few years, with the global insect protein market alone estimated to be worth US$343 million in 2021, and expected to grow with a CAGR of 26.49 per cent to reach US$1.3 billion by 2027. As a sustainable solution to help minimise multiple unsustainable practices, the sector as a whole has seen investments totalling nearly US$1 billion.

Questions

Australian Rural & Regional News asked some further questions about the product, Diptia, and Nutrition Technologies of R&D Manager, Rezuwan Zakaria.

ARR.News: Where do you source the insect frass?

Rezuwan Zakaria: We produce the frass ourselves (or more accurately, our BSF larvae produce it for us) in our indoor vertical farm, here in Malaysia. Frass is the manure and un-eaten residue generated by larval feeding. It’s still full of the nutrition which plants need – as insects and plants in natural ecosystems have co-evolved to support each other, by introducing frass back into agriculture we’re getting closer to the natural balance of those systems.

ARR.News: What organic accreditation(s) do you have?

Rezuwan Zakaria: Our products are HACCP and GMP certified for food quality & safety. There are different meanings of ‘organic’ depending on the industry. Our frass is ‘organic’ in the sense that there are no chemicals involved in the production process, and that the source material is largely carbon-based. This is in comparison to chemical fertilisers, which are generally extracted from the ground, and often require heavy chemical
processing.

ARR.News: Where do you sell Diptia and do you distribute in Australia?

Rezuwan Zakaria: As we only launched earlier this month, our current distribution is currently limited to Malaysia, but we are likely to be in Thailand and Vietnam, as well as other key export countries by the end of the year. Australia is a big opportunity for us and we would love to work with a distributor there who knows the market.

ARR.News: How does using Diptia compare in terms of efficiency with other soil improvement strategies, such as dung beetles or use of fungicides?

Rezuwan Zakaria: Diptia has dual functions. It’s a very effective organic fertiliser which has been processed twice – once through the larval system, and once through a traditional composting system. This means that the nutrients are highly available to the plants and super stable, so there is little nutrient loss. Compared to fungicides, Diptia has Bacillus halotolerans and microbial communities which function as biocontrol agents or biofungicide. The application of Diptia onto soil enriches soil microbial communities, improving soil porosity making the soil more arable and able to hold more water. The nature of Diptia which is organic also controls the release of nutrients to the soil, thus avoiding overuse and nutrients leaching. This improves the soil fertility and nutrient availability to crops.

ARR.News: How does Diptia compare in terms of cost?

Rezuwan Zakaria: Diptia is positioned at the lower end of the high quality fertiliser range, so farmers who are already using good organic fertiliser will probably pay less than they currently are, and those farmers adding organic fertiliser (or upgrading from fermented manure) won’t feel too much of a shock. It’s designed to be used alongside chemical fertilisers, so we made sure it is affordable.

ARR.News: Are there any special requirements in terms of shipping and storing Diptia?

Rezuwan Zakaria: Diptia is fully composted, so it doesn’t smell and is extremely stable, making it very easy to transport, and to store. One of the biggest benefits of Diptia is the highly active population of beneficial bacteria, which does make international regulations a bit stricter, as we’re bringing ‘live’ bacteria across borders.

ARR.News: How is Diptia applied?

Rezuwan Zakaria: Application guidance varies a lot, depending on the crop, plant age, stage in the growing cycle, soil type, and climate, as well as the main objective for using it. Generally though, top dressing application is opted. This method is often used for plants that are already in the ground, such as vegetables, flowers, and trees. To top dress plants, simply spread the fertiliser evenly around the base of the plant, being careful not to get any fertiliser on the leaves. Water the fertiliser thoroughly. Top dressing can be done once a month during the growing season.

ARR.News: Can anyone use Diptia or do users need to be licensed in some way?

Rezuwan Zakaria: There’s no need for anyone to hold a licence – we actually package the product for both agricultural use and home use, for people who grow flowers or veg in their gardens. So no qualifications or permissions are required.

ARR.News: How often does Diptia need to be applied?

Rezuwan Zakaria: Diptia Application Guidance is as follows:

ARR.News: Does heavy rain impact the effectiveness of Diptia?

Rezuwan Zakaria: Rain can have both positive and negative impacts on Diptia. One good thing is rain can help to break down the organic matter in Diptia, making the nutrients more available and accessible to soil and plants. We advise some tips for minimising the negative impacts of rain on Diptia as follows:

• Apply Diptia when the soil is dry: This will help to prevent Diptia from being washed away / leached quickly.
• Water the applied Diptia after you apply it: This will help the nutrients to reach the roots of the plants and disseminate the microbial community in Diptia to soil, efficiently

ARR.News: Tell us about the foundation of the company – what was the idea behind kicking it off? Tell us about the founders and their backgrounds.

Rezuwan Zakaria: The company was founded by Nick Piggott and Tom Berry, who developed the idea when they were working for the UN in Sierra Leone (West Africa) in 2014. They saw the challenges that the forecasted population growth was going to have, and the impact on food security for the poorer countries in particular. Realising that insect bioconversion was a potential bridge between the massive food waste problem (approx ⅓ of all food produced is lost along the supply chain, from farm to fork) and the need for animal feed inputs, they moved to Vietnam, then Malaysia to start the business. As the insects they farm (Black Soldier Flies) are a tropical species, it only makes economical and environmental sense to farm them in the tropics, where there is zero energy required for the breeding and farming of the larvae. There are producers in Europe and North America, but they consume vast amounts of energy in an effort to replicate the tropical climate (heat, light, humidity), which is expensive and generates massive carbon emissions. While the company was originally founded to support the livestock feed with insect protein powder, the vast potential for insect frass in arable agriculture has become more apparent over the last few years, and the next series of new products is likely to be targeted at plant health applications.

ARR.News: You have a good selection of initial investors, such as Sumitomo, what is the plan for the future, an IPO for instance?

Rezuwan Zakaria: At this point a number of options are open to us. An IPO is definitely one of them, and as more Green Investment Funds appear and look for investment opportunities, an IPO is becoming more likely. There are a number of synergies with existing industry players on both the feed and the agricultural side, so we’re likely to have those discussions in due course. And of course existing investors like Sumitomo and PTT (Thailand) have strategic interest in developing the business, so handing over control to one of them is also an option. But at this point we have a lot more growth ahead of us before we start really considering exit options.

About Nutrition Technologies

Nutrition Technologies is biotech company headquartered in Singapore and operating in Malaysia on a mission to address global food security. Founded in 2015 by two British entrepreneurs, Nick Piggott & Tom Berry, the company manufactures sustainable animal feed ingredients and biofertilisers, using a unique combination of biotechnology and black soldier fly larvae to recycle nutrients from agricultural and food processing by- products. In 2021 the company scaled-up to industrial production with the launch of its two-hectare factory in Johor, Malaysia. It is now a step further on its path towards developing a sustainable circular economy within the agricultural sector. Nutrition Technologies plans to build several similar size facilities across Southeast Asia in the next 5 years. More information can be found at www.nutrition-technologies.com