Syngenta puts plant microRNAs into a sprayable biological and claims a new mode of action
The Basel-headquartered company says EXORT lifted yields 5 to 10 per cent across 240 trials since 2022, with a first launch planned for Latin America
Syngenta announced on 22 September 2026 a biologicals technology called EXORT, built on naturally occurring plant microRNAs. The company, headquartered in Basel, describes it as a new class of active substances rather than an extension of an existing chemistry. “What makes EXORT™ technology so exciting is that it translates a fundamental biological mechanism into a practical agricultural solution,” said Camilla Corsi, head of crop protection research and development. The underlying science is not new to biology: the discovery of microRNAs was recognised with the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
MicroRNAs regulate gene expression before a protein is made. Jerome Cassayre, Syngenta's head of biologicals research, described them to AgNavigator as biological dimmer switches that fine-tune genetic instructions rather than switching them on or off. EXORT identifies, extracts and delivers plant-derived microRNAs onto the leaf, where they influence processes such as grain growth and fruit set. The rate is roughly 50mg of active compound per hectare inside a 100g per hectare formulated product.
The evidence Syngenta put behind the claim is a field programme of 240 trials in more than 15 countries across six crops between 2022 and 2025, covering rice, soybean, corn, cotton, fruit and vegetables. The company reports yield improvements of 5 to 10 per cent against untreated crops, and rice yields up by as much as 740kg per hectare in trials. Syngenta calls it one of the largest biological field programmes of its kind.
First products are planned for launch in Latin America in 2027, in both field crops and fruit and vegetables, with a phased rollout to around 20 countries in the years after. Where biostimulant frameworks exist, EXORT products are to be registered as biostimulants; elsewhere the route depends on national requirements. “EXORT technology introduces a new class of active substances and is the first novel mode of action in biologicals in more than 20 years,” Cassayre said.
Why it matters for AgTech founders: the regulatory line is the part to read twice. Registering as a biostimulant rather than a plant protection product is what makes a 2027 launch arithmetically possible, and it is the same door a small RNA or peptide company would have to walk through. It also caps what can be said on the label, which is why the claim here is yield and quality, not pest control. Three numbers are worth carrying into your own model. Five to ten per cent is the band an incumbent is willing to stand behind publicly, so a deck promising twenty from greenhouse pots now reads as unserious. Fifty milligrams per hectare is a cost-of-goods position that most fermentation-based biologicals cannot match, and cost per hectare decides adoption more often than efficacy does. And 240 trials over four years is the price of entry for credibility in this category, which is a capital requirement, not a science problem. For anyone building in exogenous RNA, the largest crop protection companies have now planted a flag in the space: that makes the partnership conversation easier and the differentiation conversation harder.
Syngenta puts plant microRNAs into a sprayable biological and claims a new mode of action
The Basel-headquartered company says EXORT lifted yields 5 to 10 per cent across 240 trials since 2022, with a first launch planned for Latin America in 2027.
Syngenta announced on 22 September 2026 a biologicals technology called EXORT, built on naturally occurring plant microRNAs. The company, headquartered in Basel, describes it as a new class of active substances rather than an extension of an existing chemistry. “What makes EXORT™ technology so exciting is that it translates a fundamental biological mechanism into a practical agricultural solution,” said Camilla Corsi, head of crop protection research and development. The underlying science is not new to biology: the discovery of microRNAs was recognised with the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
MicroRNAs regulate gene expression before a protein is made. Jerome Cassayre, Syngenta's head of biologicals research, described them to AgNavigator as biological dimmer switches that fine-tune genetic instructions rather than switching them on or off. EXORT identifies, extracts and delivers plant-derived microRNAs onto the leaf, where they influence processes such as grain growth and fruit set. The rate is roughly 50mg of active compound per hectare inside a 100g per hectare formulated product.
The evidence Syngenta put behind the claim is a field programme of 240 trials in more than 15 countries across six crops between 2022 and 2025, covering rice, soybean, corn, cotton, fruit and vegetables. The company reports yield improvements of 5 to 10 per cent against untreated crops, and rice yields up by as much as 740kg per hectare in trials. Syngenta calls it one of the largest biological field programmes of its kind.
First products are planned for launch in Latin America in 2027, in both field crops and fruit and vegetables, with a phased rollout to around 20 countries in the years after. Where biostimulant frameworks exist, EXORT products are to be registered as biostimulants; elsewhere the route depends on national requirements. “EXORT technology introduces a new class of active substances and is the first novel mode of action in biologicals in more than 20 years,” Cassayre said.
Why it matters for AgTech founders: the regulatory line is the part to read twice. Registering as a biostimulant rather than a plant protection product is what makes a 2027 launch arithmetically possible, and it is the same door a small RNA or peptide company would have to walk through. It also caps what can be said on the label, which is why the claim here is yield and quality, not pest control. Three numbers are worth carrying into your own model. Five to ten per cent is the band an incumbent is willing to stand behind publicly, so a deck promising twenty from greenhouse pots now reads as unserious. Fifty milligrams per hectare is a cost-of-goods position that most fermentation-based biologicals cannot match, and cost per hectare decides adoption more often than efficacy does. And 240 trials over four years is the price of entry for credibility in this category, which is a capital requirement, not a science problem. For anyone building in exogenous RNA, the largest crop protection companies have now planted a flag in the space: that makes the partnership conversation easier and the differentiation conversation harder.
