Calice Biotech, which presents itself today simply as Calice, is an Argentine agricultural science company that runs Virtual Field Trials. Its environmental engine combines artificial intelligence, systems biology and chronobiology to estimate how seed varieties, hybrids and biological inputs will perform across many environments before they are tested in the field. Calice works with research and development and portfolio teams at agricultural companies rather than with individual farms.
Earlier listings described Calice Biotech as a gene-editing company. Its current offering is computational: instead of changing plants, it models how products, environments and management practices interact, so that companies can decide earlier which candidates to advance and where to place them.
Key Features
At the core of Calice is what the company calls the P×E×M model: product, environment and management are modeled together rather than treating the environment as one fixed variable. For each combination the engine builds an Environmental Fingerprint that describes an environment by the timing of temperature and rainfall events, soil moisture dynamics and how these coincide with crop development stages.
From this the engine produces probability maps of performance, including for locations where a product has never been tested. Calice states that its Virtual Field Trials cover thousands of location and environment combinations, which would take many seasons to test physically.
The same engine is offered in three ways: as a web platform, as decision-ready reports and through API integration into existing tools. According to the company it fits into existing research workflows without restructuring breeding or product pipelines.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Technology | AI environmental engine (systems biology, chronobiology) |
| Method | Virtual Field Trials based on P×E×M interactions |
| Data Inputs | Multi-year, multi-location trial data, climate, soil and management data |
| Outputs | Performance probability maps, environmental fingerprint analyses, decision-ready reports |
| Delivery | Web platform, reports, API integration |
| Product Types | Seed varieties and hybrids, biological inputs |
| Crops (case studies) | Corn, soybean, wheat, barley, rice |
| Target Users | R&D and portfolio teams at agricultural companies |
| Headquarters | Buenos Aires, Argentina; offices in San Francisco and São Paulo |
Use Cases & Applications
- Hybrid and variety placement: Anticipating which corn hybrids or soybean varieties are likely to succeed in which regions and under which management before planting.
- Faster breeding decisions: Prioritizing candidates earlier so that physical trials concentrate on the most promising material.
- Grain quality problems: Identifying climate triggers behind grain defects, as in the company's rice quality case, and adapting management accordingly.
- Sourcing under climate variability: Assessing where a crop such as barley can be sourced reliably, as in the company's barley sourcing case.
- Deploying biological inputs: Mapping the environmental and soil conditions in which a biological product is most effective before scaling it.
Strengths & Weaknesses
| Strengths ✅ | Weaknesses ⚠️ |
|---|---|
| Earlier decisions: Candidates and locations can be screened before a full trial season. | Company-reported results: The published case studies describe outcomes without independent figures. |
| Interactions instead of averages: Product, environment and management are modeled together. | Data dependence: Results rely on the quality and coverage of the customer's trial data. |
| Flexible delivery: Web platform, reports or API from one engine. | Business-to-business only: Not designed for individual farm management. |
| Several crops and input types: Seeds, hybrids and biological inputs. | No public pricing: Costs are only available per project. |
Who Benefits
Seed companies, breeders and producers of biological inputs can use Virtual Field Trials to reduce the number of uncertain candidates that enter expensive multi-year field testing and to place products where they are most likely to perform. Farmers benefit indirectly when varieties and inputs reach the market with better information about the conditions they suit.
Integration & Compatibility
Calice delivers results through its web platform, as reports or through an API that connects to existing research and data tools. The company lists projects and partners in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, France, Belgium, Greece, Turkey and Australia.
Frequently Asked Questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How does this product work? | Calice combines a company's multi-year, multi-location trial data with models of climate, soil and crop development. Its engine estimates how each product would perform under a given environment and management, and summarizes the result as a probability map of performance. |
| Who is it for? | R&D, breeding and portfolio teams at seed, biologicals and other agricultural input companies. It is not a farm management tool for individual growers. |
| Does it replace physical field trials? | No. Calice positions Virtual Field Trials as a way to narrow and prioritize candidates and locations before physical trials, so that field testing concentrates on the most promising options. |
| What data is needed? | Results come from the customer's own trial data combined with environmental data. The exact data requirements are agreed per project. |
| How is it delivered and priced? | The same engine is available as a web platform, as decision-ready reports or through an API. Calice does not publish prices; projects are scoped individually. |
Pricing & Availability
Calice works with agricultural companies on a project basis and does not publish prices. Contact us via the Make inquiry button on this page.