Are Plant Genetics Only Half of Europe’s Soybean Story? 

Plant genetics have transformed soybean’s potential in Europe. Protealis believes another set of genetics may help determine how far the crop can go. 

Europe’s protein challenge has a notable soybean problem. 

The EU produces most of its crude protein needs for food and feed from roughage, cereals, oilseeds other than soy, and dry pulses. Soybean looks very different: more than 90% of EU con­sumption is supplied through imports.

That dependency is attracting atten­tion as fertiliser costs remain exposed to geopolitical and energy-market volatil­ity, with natural gas as a major input in nitrogen fertiliser production. Meanwhile, drought challenges established cropping systems, and EU policy looks for ways to strengthen domestic protein production. 

Soybean has a clear role here. As a legume, it can fix atmospheric nitrogen through its relationship with Bradyrhizobium bacteria, reducing its reliance on nitrogen fertiliser. Acreage is expanding in parts of Europe, but nowhere near enough to mean­ingfully reduce import independence. 

Plant genetics determine whether varieties perform, however soybean also depends on a symbiosis with Bradyrhizobium bacteria that are not nat­urally present in European soils and need to be introduced through inoculation.

So how much does the bacterial side of the equation matter? 

Seed World Europe spoke with Benjamin Laga, CEO of Protealis, about that challenge and why the company developed MagNfix™, a soybean inocu­lant designed for pre-application to seed. It combines a Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain selected for European conditions with a formulation intended to keep bac­teria viable on seed for up to 90 days before planting.

Growth in the North, Retreat in the South 

Laga notes soybean acreage growth in cooler northern regions alongside chal­lenges farther south. “We’ve seen strong  growth in Poland, northern France, and Germany: definitely moving the right way,” he says. “Unfortunately, the growth has declined in the south, mainly due to drought and irrigation problems. Considering the summer we have experienced, this year will probably be the pinnacle of that.”

The result, he says, is that total EU soybean acreage has not dramatically changed.

Where Plant Breeding Hits its Limits

Laga argues that breeding alone cannot overcome the barriers to expanding soybean production. The first is economic, though he frames it as a temporary value chain problem: “Farmers don’t want to plant without having a place to sell; processors won’t invest without local farmers’ production.” As cultivation shifts north, the value chain follows, just more slowly than he’d like. However, he adds, starting an entirely new island of produc­tion from scratch, away from the outlet, is challenging. 

The second limit is agronomic. “A good soybean field depends on good plant and bacterial genetics,” Laga says. That is why, he says, Protealis developed the inoculant MagNfix™, in parallel with its breeding programme. Plant breeding determines the genetic potential, while inoculation helps plants establish the nodulation required for nitrogen fixation. 

Inoculation’s importance is easy to overlook, since its effects begin below ground. Poor inoculation can result from timing, uneven application, declining bac­terial viability or problems with water or mixing.

Laga says manual inoculation is the biggest contributor to crop failures for new growers, usually because they are inexperienced in how to inoculate cor­rectly. For experienced farmers scaling up, he adds, the challenge is the timing: on-farm inoculation is labour-intensive and hard to keep pace with when the window between the inoculation and seeding is tight across large fields. Both problems, he argues, produce inconsist­ent results that can slow adaptation. 

Protealis has focused on pre-inocu­lation as a way to remove the on-farm application step. MagNfix™ is sold solely through seed distributors rather than pur­chased as a standalone inoculant for farmers to apply themselves. 

Effective nodulation supports nitrogen fixation, which influences crop growth and performance. “Visually, you can see it when you visit a field, lush, dark green inoculated plants versus lighter, shorter, non or poorly inoculated ones,” Juan Ramirez, Protealis’ Head of Microbiology, says.

Can Pre-Inoculated Seed Perform Like Freshly Inoculated Seed? 

Of course, bacteria applied ahead must remain viable until the seed enters the soil. 

Protealis first screened strains iso­lated from European soils and selected Bradyrhizobium japonicum SOY223, which it says is genetically distinct from other known strains and has demonstrated an ability to nodulate under cold condi­tions.

A patent application for the strain is under review. “Once we had the right strain, we optimized the inoculant formu­lation to enhance the bacterial survival during storage and, in turn, build good nodulation,” Ramirez says. 

Protealis measured bacterial sur­vival on coated seeds stored at room temperature for 30, 60 and 90 days, then compared results with freshly applied inoculant and other commercial inocu­lants in both the laboratory and the field.

“Every time we had improvements in sur­vival, we went to the field and checked: does it translate into better nodulation, better yield, better protein content?” Ramirez continues. 

Proteal is says its data show MagNfix™ performs as well after three months of storage as fresh. That remains a Protealis performance claim based on its testing programme.

According to the company, the work extended over three years and included trials in Belgium, France and Germany, conducted partly in-house and partly through external trial partners and research institutes.

One Piece of a Much Bigger Soybean Puzzle 

Europe still faces questions around pro­cessing capacity, markets, crop eco­nomics, drought, farmer experience and regional suitability. But inoculation raises a further question. Efforts to adapt soy­bean production to Europe have con­centrated on the plant: earlier maturity, cold tolerance and regionally adapted varieties. Protealis’ work asks whether adaptation needs to extend to the micro­organisms the crop relies upon as well.

For Laga, that matters beyond soybean. He sees legumes as part of Europe’s response to protein and nitro­gen fertiliser dependencies as well as to climate resilience of its cropping systems. Nitrogen-fixing crops ask less of depleted soils and build their organic content, hence improving soil health. “We need to rethink the classical crop rotations region by region and include more legumes,” he says.

Whether Europe substantially increases its soybean production will depend on far more than one variety, inoculant or company. But as soybean moves into new regions, adaptation may need to extend beyond the genetics inside the seed. The bacteria surrounding it may matter too.