Boosting Soil Resilience

Healthy soils are the foundation of productive and sustainable farming, yet modern agriculture faces growing pressures from water scarcity, fertiliser costs, and environmental regulations. Across the UK, nutrient loss and water run-off reduce farm profitability while contributing to river pollution, soil erosion, and declining soil health. At the same time, farmers are being asked to produce more with fewer inputs and under increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.

One promising opportunity lies in the natural processes already happening beneath our feet. Soil microbes create sticky, gel-like substances called Extracellular Polymeric Substances, or EPS, which help soils hold onto water and nutrients. These natural compounds improve soil structure and boost resilience to drought and heavy rainfall. Despite their potential, they remain largely untapped in commercial agriculture.

The project aims to change that. The project will explore whether EPS can be produced at scale, refined, and turned into an affordable, easy-to-use product that farmers can apply directly to their fields. By cultivating micro-organisms on agricultural waste, extracting the EPS they produce, and developing a stable, dry formulation that can be transported and applied with standard equipment, the project seeks to create a low-cost, circular-economy solution to water and nutrient loss.

Field trials will assess how effectively the EPS-derived product improves soil moisture retention, reduces run-off, and enhances nutrient efficiency under real farm conditions. If successful, this approach could reduce fertiliser requirements, lower carbon footprints, support compliance with environmental regulations, and increase the resilience of UK farming systems.