Federico Trucco of Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp: “Think of solutions to globally important problems”

Think of solutions to globally important problems. It’s far more valuable to fail in attempting something meaningful than to be successful at developing a marginal improvement.

As part of my series about companies who are helping to battle climate change, I had the pleasure of interviewing Federico Trucco.

Federico Trucco is an award-winning scientific entrepreneur with a 15-year track record creating and developing companies at the intersection of agriculture and biotechnology. Since 2011 has he led Bioceres, an ecosystem builder in the life sciences advancing multiple technologies designed to mitigate climate change and enhance human wellness. Federico is currently the CEO of Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: BIOX), the group’s subsidiary dedicated to the transition of agriculture towards carbon neutrality.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! What is the mission of your company? What problems are you aiming to solve?

Bioceres Crop Solutions is dedicated to improving the productivity of agricultural ecosystems by developing technologies that improve grower’s profitability while mitigating environmental externalities that are often associated to production systems. Today, an estimated 24% of total greenhouse gas emissions are associated to the way we utilize agricultural ecosystems. We are in the business of significantly reducing this carbon footprint while keeping food and other ag-derived products affordable.

Can you tell our readers about the initiatives that you or your company are taking to address climate change or sustainability? Can you give an example for each?

• The Company has a unique biotech platform with high-impact, patented technologies for seeds and microbial ag-inputs, as well as next generation crop nutrition and protection solutions.
• Our HB4® technology is designed to improve the resiliency of soy and wheat crops in the face of adverse climatic conditions, with a specific focus on limited water availability. HB4 is a sustainable and unique technology that tackles climate change by increasing CO2 sequestration, improving water use efficiency and improving the baseline productivity of agricultural ecosystems, helping keep food affordable, an important target for the UN’s zero-hunger sustainable development goal.

How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?

• Bioceres Crop Solutions’ technologies create economic incentives for growers while preserving environmental resources:
• Our HB4 technology is the only available technology for drought tolerance in soy-wheat cropping systems, resulting in a +13% impact on soy yields and +19.5% impact on wheat yields.
• HB4 Program is an identity preserved production system oriented to multiply seeds with select growers, evaluate product performance, determine product positioning and showcase the technology to different stakeholders within the agriculture industry. Under the Program, we provide an integrated solution that includes several of Bioceres technologies, particularly products that further reduce growers’ carbon footprint. Moreover, the Program establishes good agricultural practices such as crop rotation, water and CO2 management, and soil conservation, which is enhanced by our technologies, significantly contributing to the transition of agriculture towards carbon neutrality.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Think of solutions to globally important problems. It’s far more valuable to fail in attempting something meaningful than to be successful at developing a marginal improvement.
2. Knowledge can only be generated through failure. Science works by rejecting hypotheses, not by accepting them.
3. The best deals are those where you are better off even if the worse of visible outcomes materializes.
4. Storytelling is key. Effectively communicating is equally important to effective execution. Narrative needs to adjust to audience demographics.
5. Stay humble. You need others, always.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My father. Since I was a teenager, I was fascinated by the advancement of biotechnology and its impact on agriculture, a fascination I shared with my father — an influential farmer who championed technological advancements in the sector. My father, together with 22 friends, started Bioceres back in 2001, at the peak of Argentina’s economic debacle.

You are a person of great influence and doing some great things for the world! If you could inspire a movement that would bring the greatest amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’ve been thinking about helping create the GM4GOOD movement. In the 90’s biotechnology was perceived as enabling chemical companies sell more of the products they commercialized, glyphosate and glyphosate tolerant GMOs being perhaps the most emblematic example within this category. Today, genetic engineering (from genetic transformation to gene editing) can help us avoid the use of chemicals, achieve more climate resilient crops, and improve a number of different quality attributes important for human health and wellbeing, just to mention some later generation technologies.

What is the best way for people to follow you on social media?

People can follow our story through my personal LinkedIn account and through Bioceres Crop Solutions account.

This was so inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!