In 2025, agriculture is no longer just about yield—it’s about survival. As climate volatility intensifies, land constraints tighten, and geopolitical shocks reshape supply chains, crop science innovation is emerging as a cornerstone of global food security. With over half of Earth’s habitable land already under cultivation, regenerative practices and input efficiency are now the only scalable paths forward.
From gene-edited crops to AI-powered biological inputs, the Agriculture & Food ecosystem is continuing to transform, driven by urgency, investment, and cross-sector collaboration.
Biological Inputs: Scalable and Climate-Ready
To meet the rising global food demand, crop production must nearly double by 2050, driving innovation across agricultural inputs. The biological inputs market, encompassing biofertilizers, biostimulants, and biopesticides, is projected to grow and chemical inputs in scale at a 12% CAGR, reaching $115 billion by the 2040s. These products aim not only to reduce emissions but also toxicity and runoff, while enhancing crop resilience. Their compatibility with conventional application methods such as spraying makes them easy to adopt, even at scale. Key players like BASF, Bayer, and Syngenta continue to invest through their venture arms, targeting microbial solutions, RNA-based biocontrols, and soil health enhancers.
Engineering Crops for a Warmer World
A key area of innovation is plant genetics. Advances in gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR, enable the development of crop varieties tailored for a changing climate—such as salt-tolerant wheat or heat-resilient maize. Investment trends show increasing corporate engagement, signaling confidence in the scalability and impact of these technologies. Bayer’s Preceon system is being widely showcased in 2025, with the biotech version targeting a 2027 U.S. launch. Although farmers are already engaging in demos this season, broad commercialization is only expected later this decade.
Alongside innovation, regulatory clarity is also improving. This March the European Union resumed negotiating mandates on governing New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), after a 2024 deadlock. While final adoption is pending, momentum has returned. The proposed Plant Biostimulant Act of 2025 in the United States aims to define “biostimulant” federally and streamline oversight, addressing the current 50-state regulatory patchwork and strengthening the case for biologicals as climate adaptation tools. Meanwhile, India approved its first genome-edited, non-transgenic rice varieties in 2025, signaling broader global acceptance.
AI and Precision Agriculture
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming crop science—from forecasting climate extremes to designing adaptive, self-optimizing inputs. ThinkLabs is advancing predictive modeling by training on physics-based data, enabling more accurate simulations of large-scale agricultural scenarios. LILA is merging AI with robotics to accelerate materials formulation and calibration, paving the way for “self-driving” factories that streamline input development.
In genetics, INARI uses AI to guide precision gene editing, helping crop scientists fine-tune traits like yield, nitrogen efficiency, and drought tolerance. The company is targeting up to 20% yield increases and 40% reductions in nitrogen and water use.
Crop protection is also transforming. Enko’s AI platform Enkompass harnesses DNA libraries to develop precisely formulated insect, disease, and weed protection solutions tailored to specific crops and growing conditions. The rapid deployment of new crop treatments has immediate effect preventing 10–23% of pest-related losses—an impact worth over $10 billion annually in the U.S. Lavie Bio, acquired by ICL Growing Solutions earlier this year, leverages AI to screen microbial libraries for biopesticides and biostimulants, while Moa focuses on identifying novel herbicide mechanisms through computer vision and compound clustering.
John Deere’s See & Spray AI is reducing herbicide use by up to 90%, while Semios and FJDynamics are deploying predictive tools and integrated farm management systems. Since 2023, the InnerPlant–Syngenta–John Deere collaboration remains active, with CropVoice biosensor soybeans rolling out alerts during the current growing season. These partnerships exemplify how biotech, digital infrastructure, and equipment platforms are converging, making AI a co-pilot in designing climate-resilient, resource-efficient agriculture.
Regional Innovation and Strategic Collaboration
Standing out among global players in crop science is the innovation emerging from Latin America and Southeast Asia, where start–ups are developing climate-smart solutions tailored to local conditions.
Peruvian FORESLAB is enhancing native plant genetics, Infira in Argentina is working on resilient perennial crops, Puna Bio is using microbes to help crops survive extreme weather and poor soils—all recognized by Cleantech Group’s 2025 LATAM Cleantech 25 list.
Malaysia’s Qarbotech, a 2025 APAC Cleantech company, is boosting yields up to 60% with photosynthesis-enhancing nanotech. These efforts are attracting early-stage investment and partnerships, signaling real momentum in scaling region-specific agtech.
Future crop science treatments will be increasingly focused on biologicals and other novel inputs due to growing pesticide resistance, changing weather patterns, regulatory scrutiny, and environmental concerns. On-farm adoption is an ever-present hurdle for many of these new products, however, there is an opportunity to accelerate adoption as younger, more tech-savvy farmers take over and demand for greener solutions grows. Agrochemical companies will play a crucial role, not only by acquiring and partnering with smaller innovators to mitigate risk, but also by bundling these new biologicals with existing chemical products to protect market share. The primary drivers for adoption will be tangible benefits like yield increase and input efficiency, with environmental benefits like emissions reduction and pollution prevention being secondary drivers initially.
