We asked, you answered. With the votes tabulated, Indigo Ag’s Biotrinsic Nemora FP has officially been named the winner of The Scoop’s 19th annual New Product of the Year contest.
Why Biologicals Are Making Waves
Applied as a seed treatment for soybeans, Biotrinsic Nemora FP is Indigo Ag’s second-generation, EPA-registered biological nematicide containing the proprietary active Pseudomonas oryzihabitans strain SYM23945.
PJ Smith, senior global product manager, says in building the brand, the goal is, “When people hear Nemora, they immediately think, ‘no more nematodes.’”
Nemora uses the power of endophytic crop protection to multiply rapidly, providing full-season protection for soybean cyst nematode. According to Indigo research, Nemora reduces SCN egg hatch rate by up to 68% and primes the plant’s defenses for healthier, more resilient crop growth.
“Within one soybean growing season, there might be anywhere from four to six life cycles for nematodes. So, when you think about an up to 70% reduction each time, we’re having a pretty dramatic life cycle on those nematodes living in the soil,” Smith says.
Unique when compared to SCN traits, Nemora is a broad-spectrum nematicide and not race specific. Nemora also recruits a diverse and specialized community of plant-growth-promoting bacteria in the soil, which can improve soil health while setting up plants for success.
“What makes this product unique is that when Nemora starts on seed, it starts at about 10,000 organisms per seed, and only one month after planting, we’re seeing over 10 million organisms per plant,” he says.
In U.S. small-plot trials between 2021 and 2023, Nemora outperformed untreated checks under nematode pressure. It delivered an average yield increase of 2.2 bu. per acre and won 77% of the time in high-pressure fields. This is comparable to the yield potential of chemical nematicides, without causing phytotoxicity or reduced plant emergence.
Indigo’s sales representatives work directly with ag retailers and cooperatives to bring the Biotrinsic product portfolio to market.
Indigo has recognized biologicals as a core competency for its business. Smith says the company has strategically built its product portfolio with specific agronomic performance packages.
“It’s a more targeted approach, and one that we’ve embraced in our Biotrinsic portfolio; it’s not about having a bigger portfolio of products but designing each one to be a specific tool,” he says. “Not every solution is the right fit for every grower. Nematode pressure, for example, is heightened in an area, so we’re able to position that product for them so that it can fit their needs.”
The FP in Biotrinsic Nemora FP stands for flowable powder, a dry formulation designed to be a planter box treatment or applied via Indigo’s CLIPS delivery system for seed boxes. In partnership with companies like Growmark and Integrated Seed Solutions, Indigo has seen scaled adoption of CLIPS to simplify seed treatment and provide on-demand application at time of planting.
“From Indigo’s perspective, seed-applied solutions are really our bread and butter and our wheelhouse,” Smith says. “We’ve learned in our almost 10 years working directly with retail is ease of use and flexibility are just as important as the actual active or what pest is on that label.”
That’s where Smith thinks some of the biggest advances toward more biological category adoption have been made: in how product is stored, handled and applied.
“So when you look at Indigo’s portfolio, one thing that we’re really proud of, regardless of the active ingredient, is all of our products today have a minimum of an 18-month shelf life, and most of them have a two-year shelf life,” he says. “When that retailer orders our product, they know that it can be stable, actually over two growing seasons, and there’s more ease when it comes to managing that inventory, and some of the uncertainties with ordering in a given season.”
Pending EPA approval for spring 2027, Indigo plans to expand Nemora formulation to include a wettable powder, giving formulation flexibility for ag retailers who prefer to integrate into their seed treatment equipment.
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