A new soil technology from York uses microbes to build water-holding scaffolds around roots—offering Cornwall’s farmers a way to boost resilience, reduce fertiliser, and restore tired soils. Full-scale trial data, due soon, could change the future from the ground up.
In the quiet root-zone beneath our feet, a revolution is taking place—one that may quietly transform the future of farming in Cornwall and far beyond. It begins not with machines or chemicals, but with life itself: with microbes.
At the University of York, in partnership with agritech start-up CroBio, researchers are piloting a living soil amendment that harnesses the power of beneficial bacteria to build sponge-like scaffolds around plant roots. These cellulose structures—grown naturally by microbes—are showing extraordinary promise in their ability to retain water, preserve nutrients, sequester carbon, and bring tired soils back to vibrant life.
And for Cornwall, where the rhythms of rain and drought, slope and sea wind shape both the landscape and the soil, the implications are profound.
The idea is elegant in its simplicity: introduce specially selected soil microbes that can colonise the rhizosphere (the narrow region around plant roots) and begin producing a cellulose-rich matrix. This matrix, or "living scaffold," physically wraps around roots like a fine gauze. It locks in moisture, cradles nutrients, and forms a safe haven for beneficial soil life.
At first glance, it sounds like science fiction. But it is rooted in biology. Many soil bacteria, including species of Bacillus and Pseudomonas, are already known for producing extracellular substances to help them stick to surfaces. The innovation here is about selecting, enhancing, and applying these traits intentionally—designing soil amendments that work with the biology of plants and the ecology of soil.
Early trials are encouraging. In sandy soils, the microbial scaffold has doubled water retention under controlled greenhouse conditions. Field trials to date have also shown positive effects, though with slightly more modest gains—typically in the range of 25 to 60 percent increases in water-holding capacity, depending on the soil type and crop. Even so, these improvements are significant enough to support resilience through dry spells and reduce the need for frequent irrigation.
Perhaps most compelling of all: these microbes don’t just vanish at season’s end. As the scaffold degrades, it adds stable organic carbon to the soil—the kind of carbon that persists for decades, feeding future fertility and locking away greenhouse gases.
For all its lushness, Cornwall is a county defined by contrast. The damp folds of clay-rich valleys, the free-draining coastal sands, the shallow soils over granite, and the windswept uplands each bring their own challenges. In many places, especially near the coast, water drains away too quickly. Nutrients leach into rivers. Soil structure collapses under heavy rain.
The microbial scaffold offers something different. It doesn't try to override these natural characteristics. Instead, it responds to them—slowly stitching water back into sandy soil, protecting nutrients from washing away, and binding loose particles into stronger aggregates.
And while sandy ground has shown some of the most dramatic early responses, this technology is designed to support a wide range of Cornish soils—from pastureland to horticulture, arable rotations to rewilding projects. It’s as effective on free-draining slopes as it is in compacted, nutrient-leached soils where fertility has been slowly worn away.
For fields on inclines, it offers a way to reduce erosion without machinery. For smallholdings experimenting with regenerative techniques—herbal leys, cover crops, composts—it promises to enhance what’s already working, supporting biodiversity below the surface.
It is, in short, a tool that complements Cornwall’s natural tendencies. Not a fix-all, but a friend to the land.
Behind the scenes, Cornwall is already a leader in soil innovation. The Cornwall Soil Carbon Project, Farm Net Zero, and Duchy College’s Living Labs have positioned the region at the cutting edge of practical, landscape-scale research. While York and CroBio develop the microbial science, Cornish farms are testing regenerative methods across dozens of sites—from slaked clay fields in inland valleys to nutrient-leached pastures near the sea.
The synergy is striking. What York is proving in greenhouse trials and pilot fields, Cornwall is poised to validate on real farms. And the timing couldn’t be better. As UK agriculture moves toward sustainability and environmental land management schemes, the demand for natural, effective, scalable soil solutions is only growing.
CroBio’s amendment—shelf-stable, non-GM, and suitable for once-a-season application—is designed to be farmer-friendly. No special tools. No new tractors. Just a bucket of biology, a watering can (or sprayer), and a little patience.
Backed by DEFRA’s Farming Innovation Programme and Innovate UK, this work is part of a wider wave of agri-biotech collaborations aiming to restore soil health and reduce inputs through natural means. It adds a technical credibility that sits comfortably alongside the grounded wisdom of Cornish growers.
While the early signs are remarkably promising—doubling water retention in pots, reducing fertiliser needs, and boosting soil organic carbon in just one season—the most important chapter is still being written.
The largest, multi-year field trials of this microbial scaffold technology are now underway across the UK and internationally. These trials will measure how crops respond at scale, how costs compare to conventional treatments, and how reliably these benefits translate to the unpredictable reality of farming.
Peer-reviewed yield and cost data from these full-scale trials are expected in the coming year, offering clarity on both the agronomic and economic potential of the approach. If the findings hold true, this could mark a step-change in how we think about soil fertility—not as something to be topped up with synthetic inputs, but as a living system that can be nurtured back to health.
Imagine a field in Penwith, dry and windswept in August, the soil dusty and cracked. A season earlier, that same field had been treated with CroBio’s microbes. Now, underground, something remarkable is happening. A fine mesh of microbial cellulose wraps each plant root, holding onto the last rains of July. Nutrients cling close instead of drifting down to the estuary. Earthworms move easily through the soil. The roots go deeper, the plants stand taller, and the harvest holds on, even through the heat.
This isn’t just a theoretical future. It is already underway. With strong alignment between research institutions and Cornwall’s farm networks, the county is well positioned not only to benefit from this innovation but to shape how it’s used and adapted. For farms working with nature—rather than against it—this technology could be the missing layer.
Of course, no solution should be mistaken for a silver bullet. Cornwall’s farming wisdom is rooted in centuries of observation, community, and resilience. But every so often, a new tool comes along that strengthens what’s already growing.
Living microbial scaffolds don’t seek to replace the farmer’s hand or the compost bin or the winter cover crop. They simply offer a new way to support them—a quiet, invisible architecture that keeps water close, nutrients in place, and carbon where it belongs: beneath our feet, building a better future from the ground up.
