Just barely two years old, SymSoil®, Inc. started with four dedicated science and business entrepreneurs seeking to commercialize an economical procedure to remediate soil and enhance farming output. They are on the mark. SymSoil now has high-level, deeply experienced 40 employees. They are hitting the market to literally change the world. Soil degradation is garnering widespread recognition alongside climate change as one of the most pressing problems facing humanity. According to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification- (UNCCD)-2015, more than half (52 percent) of all fertile, food-producing soils globally are now classified as degraded, many of them severely.
Chemical farming is about providing plants with what humans think plants want. This technique essentially starves soil microbes and loads it with salt. It is a significant contributor to soil degradation, and if not monitored properly, is catastrophic for human sustainability. SymSoil’s alternative to chemical fertilizers and pesticides is the rescue. The company’s Robust Compost organically finds, cultivates, and restores indigenous soil microbes to assist farmers in economically producing quality produce with increased yield. “We help farmers move away from chemical solutions towards using biology to restore soil microbes that essentially feed the plants as nature intended,” states Elizabeth Pearce, CEO at SymSoil.
The genesis of SymSoil is based on Dr. Elaine Ingham’s research of the Soil Food Web that suggests biological processes to restore soil health, whilst growing super-nutritious foods. SymSoil leveraged the research and developed a biotech approach to grow six different microorganisms separately and blend them to create a product. These microorganisms naturally move through the soil, eat each other and in the process, providenutrients to the plants. SymSoil Robust Compost is soil specific with key components, namely—Protozoa, Fungi, Bacteria, Humic acid, Nematodes, Biochar, Microarthopods, and Compost. In proper ratio, they function to prevent disease and maintain soil health indefinitely while delivering nutrients to plants. This turns to a significant increase in crop yield and quality. Dense crop nutrition increases the nutritional value and flavor profile of the crop itself.
Additionally, SymSoil also provides two different approaches to reducing water usage.
We help farmers move away from chemical solutions towards biologically restoring the soil microbes that essentially feed the plants the way nature intended them to be fed
SymSoil’s conditioned and infused Biochar absorbs water and keeps it available for the roots in a way that regular soil cannot. The company’s patent-pending microbial solution significantly reduces water consumption for most plants.
SymSoil ensures that any product that is made available to the farmers and other growers meets the highest quality standards. An independent laboratory confirms that all the products maintain the minimum specifications such as availability of 300 microorganisms of bacterial biomass, beneficial fungi in one gram compost, and many others. Elizabeth shares the story of a hydroponic indoor cannabis grower of Oakland who was struggling with multiple fungal infections in the clones of their cannabis plants. SymSoil helped increase the survival rate of their plants from a meager 7 percent to 100 percent. Besides, the use of SymSoil’s Robust Compost also helped the cannabis grower in cultivating bigger plants with more roots, larger buds, and much larger amounts of THC.
Another aspect in which SymSoil helps restore and preserve nature is through carbon sequestration. The soil microbes in the company’s products naturally reestablish the carbon in the soil aiding in reducing global warming. Also, a soil carbon pool increase in degraded cropland soils increases crop yield significantly. “Every acre of land that uses our product sequesters four or more tons of carbon per year,” remarks Elizabeth.
Recently, the company has been accepted into the Resource Innovation and Solutions Network (RISN), a program of Arizona State University. SymSoil will be working closely to develop new products at its 60-ton compost facility. With a diverse pool of experienced employees that cover all the different organic traditions of composting, SymSoil continues to offer environment-friendly products while increasing farmer profitability.
