BY: Ashley Robinson, editor, Burr Forest Group
Canadian scientists are on a mission to help crops grow stronger and more sustainably – with a little help from microbes.
The project, called Bio-inoculants for the Promotion of Nutrient Use Efficiency and Crop Resiliency in Canadian Agriculture (BENEFIT), is one of nine national initiatives funded by Genome Canada in 2023 under its Climate-Smart Agriculture program.
The research project, led by Ivan Oresnik at the University of Manitoba and George diCenzo at Queen’s University, brings together 17 researchers from five universities to explore one big question: How can we use microbes to make crops more efficient, resilient and sustainable?
The BENEFIT project has five main activities:
- Developing an inoculant for dry beans that could replace or reduce nitrogen fertilizer use.
- Finding beneficial microbes that improve nutrient use for wheat, canola, and barley.
- Optimizing microbes for large-scale production so farmers can actually use them.
- Studying plant–microbe communication to help plant breeders select for beneficial interactions.
- Measuring real-world impact – from environmental gains to economic and social benefits.
A Manitoba Focus: Beans and Rhizobia
Manitoba is one of Canada’s biggest dry bean producers. Although beans can form nodules with Rhizobium bacteria – which naturally capture nitrogen from the air – current recommendations still call for nitrogen fertilizer because no dependable bean inoculant exists.
With support from Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG), about 40 soil samples were collected across the province. From these, the team isolated 167 Rhizobium strains capable of nodulating dry beans.
By sequencing the DNA of each strain, scientists found that Manitoba beans can partner with several Rhizobium species – the most common being Rhizobium croatiense. Even more exciting, they discovered some bacteria that had never been described before. One new species found in Prairie soils is now officially named Sinorhizobium prairiense.
| Species | Number Isolated |
| R. anhuiense | 16 |
| R. croatiense | 44 |
| R. hidalgonense | 27 |
| R. indicum | 2 |
| R. laguerreae | 2 |
| R. leguminosarum | 37 |
| R. redzepovicii | 1 |
| R. sophoriradicis | 13 |
| Rhizobium sp. | 26 |
| Total | 167 |
Field Testing the Top Performers
In greenhouse trials, researchers tested all isolates for their nitrogen-fixing ability and competitiveness. The top 10 per cent were selected, and from those, two standout strains proved especially strong.
In summer 2025, those two strains were tested in field research plots in collaboration with Kristen MacMillan, agronomist in residence with MPSG at the University of Manitoba. The early results showed that when the beans reached the R1 growth stage, every plant had nodules – and 88 to 93 per cent of the rhizobia recovered were the same ones used to treat the seed.
These strains are being tested at the University of Saskatchewan in Ana Vargas’s lab. Vargas is the Agri-Food Innovation Fund Chair, Lentil and Faba Bean. Researchers are screening a bean diversity panel to see which varieties pair best with the bacteria.
The goal is to use biological nitrogen fixation as a breeding trait for new bean cultivars.