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Crop care products based on sustainable materials
CategoriesSustainable News

Crop care products based on sustainable materials

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The European Commission is navigating a bumpy path as it attempts to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals in the environment. A proposal on a sustainable use of pesticides regulation (SUR) suggests halving the amount of pesticides in use in the region by 2030 may be debated in early 2024. On the other hand, the revision of a broad chemicals strategy for sustainability appears to be indefinitely paused.  

In the meantime, Belgian agritech company Minagro is helping farmers reduce their chemical impact and navigate changing regulations by providing bio-based versions of essential crop care products. With a number of patents already in place, the company provides three different categories of crop inputs. In-can preservatives, adjuvants, and solvents are made from the natural raw ingredients sugarcane bagasse and essential oils.  

In-can preservatives help preserve aqueous-based products in their liquid form. Adjuvants help other chemicals work more effectively, and solvents make it easier to spread crop treatments by dissolving certain products. Agrochemical companies can replace standard products with Minagro’s bio-based versions and help farmers reduce the negative impact of their agricultural activity.  

The company provides distributors with technical support in formulating just the right mix of its inputs for desired results. All Minagro products are biodegradable, making them an important piece in growers’ transition towards reductions in groundwater pollution and soil damage. And most organic certification authorities allow for the use of Minagro’s biochemicals.  

From drone-powered pest control to carbon-neutral fertiliser that improves crop yields, Springwise’s database contains a diverse range of innovations seeking ways to change agriculture for the better while making it possible to feed the growing global population.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Harnessing microorganisms for crop protection
CategoriesSustainable News

Harnessing microorganisms for crop protection

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Farmers often apply chemical pesticides and antibiotics to address crop diseases and strengthen plant defences against abiotic stress. However, these treatments are not only expensive but can also have environmentally damaging side effects. One solution is to use tailor-made microorganisms for crop protection, and this is exactly what Chilean company Exacta Bioscience is doing.

Exacta formulates combinations of microorganisms designed for soil enhancement and the protection of crops against specific diseases. The products are designed to be used in place of pesticides and antibiotics.

Some of the products the company is developing include FitoRoot, which is composed of three strains of Bacillus and designed to stimulate plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria to help crops better absorb water; FitoBac FT, which includes three strains of bacteriophages designed to fight bacterial cancer in stone fruit and kiwi; and FitoBac NT, which uses strains of bacteriophages to fight bacterial blight in walnut and hazelnut plants.

The company recently announced a partnership with US-based Ginkgo Bioworks to leverage Ginkgo’s end-to-end agricultural research and development (R&D) services to scale up the production of Exacta’s FitoRoot product. Exacta will use Ginko’s fermentation and formulation services to reduce the cost of producing FitoRoot and make it more competitive.

As awareness grows of the environmental dangers of using chemical fertilisers, Springwise is spotting more innovations aimed at finding more sustainable solutions. In the archive, find affordable, low-carbon fertilisers and the use of microbes to turn methane into soil nutrients.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

A microbial cover crop for capturing and storing carbon and nitrogen
CategoriesSustainable News

A microbial cover crop for capturing and storing carbon and nitrogen

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Pesticides and fertilisers are widely used in food production. But while they can have important benefits, they are expensive, and their use creates numerous environmental problems impacting human health, biodiversity, and water and soil ecosystems. Now, startup Pluton Biosciences is identifying microbial solutions that could provide chemical-free crop protection and enhancement.

Pluton is working to identify novel microbes with commercial applications using its proprietary Micromining Innovation Engine. Pluton has already discovered multiple previously unknown bacteria that can protect against several agriculturally relevant plant pests, including the fall armyworm. The active anti-pest molecule has been isolated and is being developed into a natural pesticide.

The company is also developing a microbial cover crop that captures and sequesters carbon and nitrogen in the soil – providing soil enhancement as well as carbon sequestration. The company claims that applying the microbial spray at planting and harvest could scrub nearly two tonnes of carbon from the air per acre of farmland each year, while also replenishing nutrients in the soil.

Microbial solutions are not only good for crops and the environment, they are also a potentially valuable market, and investors agree. In 2021, Pluton raised $6.6 million (around €6 million) in a seed round and more recently it completed a series A round for $16.5 million (around €15.2 million).

Nature can be very effective at solving problems, a fact that has not escaped the notice of those searching for more sustainable ways to grow crops. In the archive, Springwise has spotted a number of innovations in this space, including a maggot-based fertiliser and nature-inspired insecticides that protect biodiversity.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

Computer vision to reduce crop losses from pests and disease
CategoriesSustainable News

Computer vision to reduce crop losses from pests and disease

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The global loss of crops due to untreatable pest damage and plant disease is estimated to be between 20 and 40 per cent. With extreme weather exacerbating difficult growing conditions, the recent emergence of a treatment-resistant wheat fungal disease is additional bad news for cereal farmers. Data science company Fermata has an artificial-intelligence-powered (AI) solution that helps growers spot disease early and track plant changes over time. 

Called Croptimus, the data platform is available as a subscription service that includes installation and management support. After the initial installation, the algorithms need two to three weeks to adjust and learn what the farm team wants to track, with data and imagery then available in real-time online.

As well as reducing labour costs, the system helps reduce pesticide use by up to 25 per cent. Automated alerts let growers know when a pest or change in growing conditions is identified. Chemical applications can be applied directly to the affected areas, with no guesswork needed to determine how far a disease has spread.  

The cameras use ethernet cables for power, and each camera visually covers 400 square metres of land, and Fermata provides custom quotes and designs for each plot’s specifications. Right now, the AI monitors problems that affect fruits, leafy greens, and medicinal crops. These include powdery mildew, spider mites, and aphids, and the technology is being trained on additional diseases and insects, as well as an increasing number of crops.  

The use of data in agriculture is constantly improving, with Springwise spotting innovations that include the use of weather data to speed up insurance payments in the event of drought or flooding, and a modelling system that predicts frost in microclimates where high value crops are growing. 

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Extremophile bacteria improve crop yields
CategoriesSustainable News

Extremophile bacteria improve crop yields

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: A large proportion of the world’s arable land is already degraded by the effects of climate change, pollution, and salinisation, and this is set to get worse over time. At the same time, the agricultural industry spends a huge amount of money on fertilisers and other soil treatments. Now, Argentinian startup Puna Bio is developing a novel all-natural solution for improving crop yield using extremophile organisms – microbes evolved to thrive in extreme environments. 

Puna co-founder Elisa Bertini scoured locations including Utah’s Great Salt Lake and South America’s high desert, known in Argentina as La Puna, for organisms that thrive in harsh environments like active volcanoes, saline wetlands, and desert soils. The extremophiles that live in these locations have evolved to live with a low amount of nutrients and to optimise the uptake of available nutrients, such as nitrogen or phosphorus, making them very efficient.

The company found that some extremophiles also contain multiple copies of genes that amplify the microbe’s ability to produce nitrogen and phosphorus or grow well under conditions that non-extremophile microbes cannot handle. This, in turn, means that when these microbes are relocated to other soils, even those that have been heavily depleted of nutrients, they thrive. Puna co-founder and CEO Franco Martínez Levis explains it by saying, “What we found is like what happens when an athlete trains at high altitude.”

However, Levis also added that the company doesn’t just collect and sell on the extremophile microbes. They have developed and patented a method for combining these microbes with seed stock. This means that farmers can buy and plant the treated seeds as normal, but also that the extremophiles will not outcompete the existing microbes already present in the soil.

As global warming picks up pace, the race is on to find ways of improving or maintaining agricultural yields without causing further degradation of the environment. Luckily, innovators are coming up with a number of solutions, including a method for turning batteries into fertiliser and a system that can make sustainable biofertiliser on-site. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

8th September 2022

Email: info@punabio.com

Website: puna.bio

Reference

Turning the overlooked croton nut into a sustainable cash crop
CategoriesSustainable News

Turning the overlooked croton nut into a sustainable cash crop

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: To date, the East and Southern African croton tree has mostly been used as firewood or charcoal. However, the tree has the potential to provide a number of other products. EcoFix Kenya is a company that is working to harness such potential. The company’s CEO, Cosmas Ochieng, is on a mission to find new ways of using native Kenyan plant-resources. He has developed a process to extract biofuel from the nuts of the croton tree. This biofuel can be used for a variety of purposes, including powering vehicles and generators. In addition, the byproducts of the process can be used as fertiliser, animal feed, and even cosmetics.

EcoFix is also providing a sustainable business model that encourages local farmers to plant and harvest croton trees rather than other crops. EcoFix processes over 3,000 tonnes of croton nuts each year, working with over 6,000 farmers. This business model not only helps to improve the environment by encouraging the growth of croton trees, but it also provides a reliable source of income for local farmers.

The company started out as a small startup focused on biofuel. They have since worked with large-scale corporations like multinational food producer Del Monte – powering their diesel generators through croton oil. However, it became clear that reliance solely on fuel contracts would not sustain long term business growth. With 90 per cent of the nut being wasted in the biofuel production process alone, the company has been growing and diversifying.

Croton nuts now form the basis of several products, such as high-protein supplements that are sold to poultry farmers as well as Ochieng’s latest innovation: a cosmetic brand based on croton oil called NEA by Nature. Ochieng said that he found croton nuts have unique physical elements including high moisturising properties to make them ideal for use in soap and face masks. The Ochieng Company is looking to target a niche market of conscious consumers with their palm-free products.

Ochieng is eager to take his cosmetics company global. In order for that goal, he’s building another factory alongside the original processing plant in Nanyuki – a town around 200 kilometres north from Kenya’s capital city Nairobi. This new production facility will increase capacity and start exporting items such as cosmetics towards lucrative markets like America or England. The expansion will also allow for more employment opportunities in the local area as well as continued growth for the company. Ochieng is committed to providing quality products and good jobs for the community and this next phase of development will help to achieve those aims.

Other recent biofuel innovations spotted by Springwise include pellets made from agricultural and food waste, a biofuel startup expanding into consumer goods, and a shipping company using biofuel to reduce maritime emissions.

Written By: Katrina Lane

8th April 2022

Email: info@efk.co.ke

Website: efk.co.ke

Reference

Sustainable strategies for combatting crop pests
CategoriesSustainable News

Sustainable strategies for combatting crop pests

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Each year, 3 million farm workers experience extreme pesticide poisoning, and 600 million people get sick from eating foods contaminated with agrochemicals. This is a particularly pertinent problem in Costa Rica – a leading global exporter of pineapples, bananas, and coffee.

The damage caused by agrochemicals—not just to human health, but also to the wider environment—is feeding calls from stakeholders and regulators for environmentally friendly alternatives. But finding viable substitutes that meet the performance characteristics required by agricultural producers and their demanding customers is hard.

Costa Rican startup ClearLeaf is rising to this challenge with a range of innovative solutions to replace harmful toxic pesticides. These are based on emulsions – mixtures of sticky non-toxic liquids that coat living and post-harvest crops that are vulnerable to pests. This coating protects the plant and promotes healing of damaged tissue. Crucially, the company’s antimicrobial agents are highly toxic for single celled organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, but harmless to humans, plants, insects, and wildlife.

ClearLeaf’s solutions offer several important benefits compared to alternatives. First, ClearLeaf offers one of the only non-toxic fungi-bactericides available anywhere in the world. Moreover, the company’s solutions do not cause microbial resistance and enhance rather than impede plant growth. Second, the fungi-bactericides can be applied at any time in the growing cycle and can even be used to protect produce post-harvest – keeping it fresh between farm and fork. Finally, ClearLeaf’s technology does not harm biodiversity on the farm – something that is particularly important in a country home to 5 per cent of the world’s biodiversity.

ClearLeaf is not the only innovator spotted by Springwise that is seeking
to reduce the impact of traditional pesticides. One company has developed a sensor
that gives farmers the ability to identify
insect pests in real time. Another is employing bees
to deliver organic fungicide.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

25th March 2022

Website: clearagro.com

Contact: clearagro.com/contact

Reference