Lavie Bio announces expansion of its bio-inoculant product for spring wheat, Yalos, to durum and barley

Lavie Bio will offer Yalos™ (formerly Thrivus™) to farmers growing spring wheat, durum and barley across the US and Canada in 2024

Lavie Bio Ltd., a subsidiary of Evogene Ltd. (Nasdaq: EVGN) (TASE: EVGN), a leading ag-biological company committed to elevating food quality, sustainability, and agricultural productivity through microbiome-based innovations, announces the expansion of its microbiome-based product for spring wheat, now rebranded as Yalos™ (formerly Thrivus™), to include durum and barley, significantly broadening its potential market reach. This expansion follows very successful field trials conducted in the US in 2023 in durum and barley, which generated on average over 7% of yield increase. Yalos™ is a seed treatment that enhances production by improving soil nutrients, reducing environmental stress, and increasing yields. It aims to boost yield in all small grains, starting with spring wheat, durum, and barley.

The 2023 trials exceeded expectations with 86% success rate, surpassing industry standards in extensive large-acre trials. Yalos™ demonstrated its efficacy by delivering an average production improvement of 8.3% in Durum and 6.6% in Barley. This expansion increases the product's addressable market in the US and Canada by ~40% from 25 million acres to 35 million acres.

Yalos™ combines two natural microbes discovered by Lavie Bio's advanced BDD platform, powered by Evogene's MicroBoost AI tech-engine. This platform provides deep insights into microbe functions, allowing Lavie Bio to develop a strong portfolio of high-performance, cost-effective bio-inoculants and bio-pesticides like Yalos™.

Chad Rubbelke, owner at Rubbelke Farms asserts "Yalos™ has been impressive on our farm.  As a farmer and research provider it is unusual to see a product perform as well as Yalos™.

Yalos's performance has been consistent over several different environmental conditions and years. In my mind Yalos™ is a strong competitor in the biological market and pays for itself yearly."

"We are very satisfied with these results from our 2023 field trials enabling us to offer our product to durum & barley growers in 2024." states Amit Noam, Lavie Bio's CEO, "As Lavie Bio charts its course for 2024, the company remains dedicated to commercial growth by expanding to additional crops across the United States, Canada and beyond. Lavie Bio continues to lead the agricultural innovation frontier, championing sustainable practices and enhancing crop yields.