On 3 November, more than 120 regional stakeholders gathered in Singapore for the Asia Biologicals Symposium, the first forum of its kind in Southeast Asia focused on accelerating the adoption of biological inputs in agriculture.

Co-convened by Agrifood Futures, Farmers2Founders and Wharf42 through Platform 10, the event opened with remarks from Enterprise Singapore and Temasek, reflecting Singapore’s growing commitment to advancing sustainable and commercially scalable agri-food solutions in the region.

The symposium brought together corporates, growers, researchers, startups, funders, and policymakers from across Asia to engage in a grounded, honest discussion. The core challenge raised repeatedly was that while biological innovation is growing, uptake across the region remains inconsistent. Products often stall before reaching farms, especially in smallholder systems where the cost of failure is too high. Many companies are seeking solutions that are ready to deploy, not experiments. Farmers remain cautious, and corporates are reluctant to promote unproven tools they cannot stand behind. The risk is reputational as much as operational.

A second theme was the fragmentation of the biologicals space itself. Terms such as biostimulants, biofertilisers, inoculants, and microbial protectants are often used interchangeably despite having very different use cases, pathways to market, and regulatory considerations. This creates confusion across the value chain, from regulators and buyers to advisors and farmers. Participants also pointed to inconsistent protocols, limited technical support systems, and distribution bottlenecks that continue to favour legacy inputs.

At the same time, the dialogue surfaced alignment on where Singapore could make a distinct and catalytic contribution. Rather than replicating work already underway in production countries, Singapore can add value by enabling coordination. Participants saw clear potential for Singapore to provide shared infrastructure for regional trials, to support regulatory guidance that reflects the diversity of biological categories, and to serve as a neutral hub that connects innovators, buyers, and capital partners. Its credibility, connectivity, and ability to broker regional partnerships were repeatedly named as unique assets.

The symposium also introduced the early vision for the Asia Biologicals Platform, a regionally led initiative now in development. The platform will focus on four priorities:

●      Coordinating real world field trials to generate trusted, context specific performance data and adoption support

●      Supporting a regional network of solution providers with access to trial sites, early capital, and market entry points

●      Facilitating structured knowledge exchange, including an annual summit and shared learning outputs

●      Convening a multi-stakeholder steering group to guide strategy, partnerships, and resource mobilisation

The Asia Biologicals Platform will identify and prioritise collaborative efforts around specific crop challenges. It will clarify pathways and connect the right players so that effective biological solutions can be deployed faster and more widely. The focus is on overcoming real adoption barriers, from lack of data and fragmented regulation to gaps in technical support and financing.

Through the Platform, this work will be anchored in delivery by running field trials, aligning incentives, and building the partnerships and infrastructure needed to move solutions from pipeline to practice. Singapore is well positioned to support this work. Its role as a connector, a hub for science and finance, and a trusted regional convenor offers real value at this point of momentum. What happens next will depend on how quickly we can move from shared intent to shared delivery.