At Evogene, we are committed to using our technology to empower the development of solutions that both coexist with and enhance nature, enabling better environmental outcomes for current and future generations.
Our subsidiary Lavie Bio aims to improve food quality, sustainability, and agricultural productivity through the introduction of natural and microbiome-based ag-biologicals. Lavie Bio develops ag-biologicals across two verticals: bio-stimulants for crop enhancement, improving existing crop yields or increasing abiotic resilience; and bio-pesticides for crop protection against biotic stresses such as insects, diseases, and weeds.
Lavie Bio’s first commercial bio-inoculant – Yalos™, was approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in May 2023. Yalos™ works to improve nutrient availability and uptake in crops, thereby maximizing production in sub-optimal regions within fields and minimizing performance variability.
Lavie Bio’s solutions pinpoint beneficial bacteria for crop enhancement or protection using Biology Driven Design (BDD) powered by Evogene’s MicroBoost AI.
Average yield increase of
3 to 4 bushels per acre with no
operational changes required
7% reduction in land use
required per metric ton
of grain
6% reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions per metric ton of
grain produced
Boost to natural defenses
and stress tolerance
Supports the adoption of more
sustainable production including
soil preservation and reducing
the use of harmful chemicals
6% increase in production
(on average)
7% less energy required
per metric ton of grain
Increased plant health
and biomass
Supports regenerative
agriculture
The world’s heavy reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels continues to harm the environment through greenhouse gas emissions. To shift towards sustainable energy, there’s a growing demand for accessible and scalable renewable sources.
Enter the castor bean, traditionally used for medicinal purposes but now harnessed for highly efficient and low-emission biofuel production. Evogene’s subsidiary, Casterra Ag, focuses on developing high-yield, high-oil content castor bean seeds. Evogene’s GeneRator AI selects the best castor bean varieties from a library of over 300 phenotypes, ensuring success in the target area. Castor beans can thrive in various regions without competing with food production. Casterra has partnered with a major oil and gas company to scale up the use of castor seed oil for biofuels, offering renewable energy options for low-income and developing nations. Casterra’s mission is to provide advanced castor bean seeds tailored to eco-friendly energy and industrial needs. This empowers farmers worldwide to engage in sustainable production and economic opportunities.
AgPlenus uses computational predictive biology and chemistry to create sustainable crop protection products, addressing issues of pests, plant diseases, and weeds that harm crops and forests.
The development of crop protection products is currently complex, lengthy, and expensive. AgPlenus disrupts traditional methods by employing a target-based approach, using Evogene’s ChemPass AI and other computational tech to identify essential protein targets which are important to the function of the performance of the relevant weed, insects, or fungi. They then find chemical compounds to inhibit these targets. Hits with confirmed pest-control effects undergo optimization.
AgPlenus’s mission is to ensure healthy plants, sustainable yields, and food, while interfering with the natural ecosystem of the plant as little as possible.
By 2050, the global population is set to reach 9.7 billion, increasing food demand by 70%. Our Ag-Seed Division uses synthetic biology and genome editing to enhance crop traits. One of the major programs aims to develop canola and rapeseed seeds that absorb 60% more carbon dioxide and use 20% less water, benefiting agricultural sustainability and reducing global warming. This innovation improves biomass yield, maintains high oil content, and has broad applications in food, animal feed, and sustainable energy industries. The Ag-Seed Division received a grant from the European Union’s Horizon Program for its Crop4Clima project, collaborating with global leaders in environmental and synthetic biology. This project leverages Evogene’s and its partners’ innovative synthetic biology technologies, integrating various disciplines to address climate change impacts.
Molecular farming represents a catalyst towards global food security and a more sustainable future. Finally Foods is an AI-driven company specializing in molecular farming for the food sector. Its mission is to provide additional sources for animal-based proteins in a sustainable and economical manner. The company modifies plants to serve as “bioreactors” for the production of these proteins, and will leverage Evogene’s GeneratorAI to enable short R&D cycles and fast time-to-market. Finally first targets casein which is the main protein found in milk and is highly required in the dairy industry, and potato was chosen as the “host”.
The company is a collaboration of Evogene with The Kitchen FoodTech Hub by Strauss, and was co-founded by Dafna Gabbay, a seasoned entrepreneur and Dr. Basia Vinocur, former VP R&D of Evogene.
