From lab to field: Ghent scientists addressing the planetary challenge to restore agricultural soils.
In the Ghent research labs of Aphea.Bio, scientists are tackling one of agriculture’s toughest questions:can we feed the world without destroying the systems that make food production possible?
The problem we’re solving:
Modern agriculture faces a huge challenge: producing enough food while reducing environmental pressure and mitigating extreme weather events. Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides have driven productivity for 70 years, but intensive use contributes to biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient runoff.
As our CEO Isabel Vercauteren states: “A healthy soil is our best tool for climate resilience, food security and ecosystem health. Fix the soil, and everything else follows.”
Our solution:
Aphea.Bio harnesses nature’s own diversity. Our R&D platform screens thousands of naturally occurring microorganisms living in and around crop plants, identifying the exceptional performers that can protect plants from disease, enhance nutrient uptake or defend against pests. Think of it as finding nature’s best problem-solvers and putting them to work where they’re needed most.
Real products, real impact:
Our biostimulant ACTIV by APHEA bio® is already on the fields for several years, helping cereal farmers maintain yields in challenging conditions across Europe. Our biofungicide VIRTUOSA® is launching soon and outperforms competing products in multi-year field trials across Europe and the US.
On top of this, we’re building the scientific framework to prove our biological agricultural products work while safeguarding soils. Through our Ecostimuli research project with Ghent University and VLAIO funding, we’re pioneering methods to quantify how biologicals restore soil biodiversity, moving beyond yield metrics to ecosystem health.
Why Aphea.Bio deserves your vote:
- Scientific rigor: We’re research-first. Every product undergoes years of field testing and independent validation before commercialization.
- Local innovation, global relevance: Belgian innovation addressing a challenge that spans continents. We’re filing regulatory dossiers worldwide because soil degradation doesn’t respect borders.
- Genuine transparency: We’re B-Corp certified and EcoVadis Silver Medal recipients, but we also publicly report when our emissions increase (Scope 1 rose in 2024 due to facility expansion). Real transparency means sharing the setbacks alongside the wins.
- Next-generation leadership: CEO Isabel Vercauteren leads a company where sustainability isn’t a department, it’s embedded in our daily work and in our Articles of Association as a legal obligation.
- Measurable progress: In 2023, ACTIV by APHEA bio use avoided 504 tons of CO₂ equivalents compared to synthetic alternatives. Our Scope 2 emissions per employee dropped 68% since 2022. We’ve eliminated 700kg of annual plastic waste. We’re building solutions and reducing our own footprint simultaneously.
The bottom line:
Agriculture covers 38% of Earth’s land surface. Transform how we farm, and we transform the planet’s capacity to sustain life. Vote for Aphea.Bio. We are fully committed to creating a sustainable and healthy food system based on the inventive mechanisms of nature itself.