C.C.S. (Experimental Crops Center) is a company located among the pristine peaks of the Aosta Valley that has chosen to specialize exclusively in microbiological biotechnologies useful for agriculture. Its activity is aimed at the research, selection, and commercialization of microbial consortia essential to support the most advanced and sustainable agronomic practices.

BEING DIFFERENT TO BE BETTER

The core of our products is mycorrhizal fungi, but not only those. Along with mycorrhizae, we introduce a complex microbial community into our products, consisting also of:

growth-promoting
bacteria
antagonistic fungi
ascomycetes

all selected microorganisms to ensure the best possible plant wellness.

The choice in creating our microbiomes was to preserve the synergy of beneficial microorganisms by creating a consortium where each singularity plays as a team for a common well-being.

While the "in VITRO" multiplication technique can be applied for the reproduction of almost all our microorganisms—meaning exploiting a confined and controlled environment: the bioreactor, where nutrients are provided, and pH, temperature, and oxygen are controlled, up to extraction and subsequent purification—for mycorrhizae, C.C.S. adopts the more complex and expensive technique of "IN VIVO" replication. To reproduce the symbiotic fungi that will then complete the microbial pool of MICOSAT F® products, we use pots starting from "mother" plants to obtain a high-quality product with greater efficacy.

Although this "IN VIVO" process is more expensive—since it requires a large number of greenhouses, pots, and host plants, a long growth period, specialized labor, strain selection, and the use of specific inert substrates and materials that guarantee the absence of pathogens and/or contaminants—C.C.S. prefers it for multiple advantages:

  • In the IN VIVO technique, the plant-fungus association allows future generations of the reproduced fungi to maintain their complete genetic heritage and a morphology that can better adapt to the different conditions it will find in the soil once used;
  • It will favor the association of symbiotic bacteria with the symbiotic fungi in the reproductive environment;
  • It will yield not only spores but also hyphae and rootlets, which are excellent beneficial infection sites that will facilitate the association between the plant and the symbiont.

FROM THE LAST CENTURY TO TODAY

Over the last 35 years, CCS has developed a proprietary technology for the IN VIVO replication of mycorrhizal fungi which, in association with a microbial collection (a library of microbial strains: bacteria, fungi, yeast) among the most relevant in the sector, allows to obtain a high yield of its formulations in the main agricultural crops.

Today, CCS is one of the few companies in the world not only to reproduce mycorrhizal fungi IN VIVO but also to reproduce, in addition to endomycorrhizae, the rarer ectomycorrhizae. This guarantees: not only the highest quality of the finished product (through the molecular biology technique called PCR, all production batches are verified to guarantee the quantitative consistency of the products); the vastest transfer of genetic heritage (spores, hyphae, and mycelium); and high performance in the field, but also by offering an application catalog among the broadest in the agricultural sector.