Overcoming Field Experiment Challenges to Increase Biostimulant Product Adoption

Bringing a biostimulant product to market is a key focus for many agricultural companies. But biostimulants inherently have challenges in development with the variability in how the products work, as well as how other outside variables impact how they work. We’ll be addressing “Overcoming Field Experiment Challenges to Increase Biostimulant Product Adoption” in the scientific track at Biostimulants World Congress on Friday, Nov. 15.

Importance of Product Development

Product development is an integral part of bringing any product to market and there are a couple of key components. One is the product itself. How do you determine the right rate, the right application timing, the right application method. Which crops are your focus? What is your target market? A close second is obviously product registration and the correct regulatory path. What does the regulatory path look like for your product? A point of differentiation or distinction is needed from the beginning of development about the mode of action and the potential claims to allow smooth navigation of regulatory pathways.

Again, consistency is key with product development. A scattered approach will often lead to more questions than answers, and you will not be able to really learn about and fine tune the product. More often than not, if can be very tempting to try and answer all the questions with one protocol. In my experience this is rarely effective and often leads to setbacks in your development process

As products get closer to market, one of the biggest challenges companies face is the eagerness to test the product in the field too soon. While we all want to see success on a farmer’s field, having an end customer test or trial your product too soon might cause a bad first experience. It’s very hard to overcome that initial product impression. Maintaining a diligent and focused approach, with a disciplined product development plan will help ensure a positive experience for the grower.

Steps to Overcome Challenges

First – to successfully launch a biological product, you need to determine the solution you’re trying to provide and define where that product fits best for growers.

The second component is focus. What are the crops that you’re initially wanting to test the product on and how are you measuring success? What potential ROI will you provide to the grower? Many companies often spend too much time testing the product on a wide variety of crops, and don’t find the answers they’re looking for in any specific crop. Then they are unable to prove the ROI of the biological product.

As mentioned, how do you measure success in a meaningful way and translate that into a marketing message as you get closer to launch? And finally, how do you remain consistent throughout the process? Consistency in approach from a trial perspective, application timing and ultimately making sure your biological product fits into the current paradigm of what growers are currently doing are all required.

Following these learnings and insights about a biological product will help you understand product efficacy and application requirements, how to navigate regulatory pathways and how to gain market access; however, challenges still exist.

The Importance of Data Analytics

Strong knowledge about your biological product will help ensure a smooth path to market as it will help alleviate regulatory challenges, and help gain market acceptance by growers by proving mode of action, ROI for the customer, and be easily adopted.

However, the execution of research trials across multiple different product stages generates large sets of data that is often messy. It can be challenging to analyze that data appropriately and then apply analytics to improve and optimize the technology. It’s important to address key questions throughout five different stages during the product development process to discover actionable insights.

While there are many challenges in bringing a new biological technology to commercialization, a strong knowledge of your product, a consistent, focused approach to product development, a strong product story around your data and a strong ROI proposition will allow a smooth road to market.

Learn more during Biostimulants World Congress on Friday, Nov. 15 at 9:50 Eastern Time.