USA News Group – The future of our food is going to require plenty of innovation, according to QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at the ninth annual Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for the Sustainable Development Goals in New York. In front of the STI Forum attendees, QU Dongyu shared that science, technology and innovation offer “vast” potential for progress in ensuring food security and nutrition, reducing poverty and safeguarding the environment while boosting sustainable agriculture. Analysts at Vantage Market Research project the Global Precision Farming Market will grow to US$21.4 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 11.90%, while Market.US projects the Global Agricultural Biotechnology Market to grow at a CAGR of 7.86% through 2032 to US$232 billion. Diligently working behind the scenes are several agritech companies with recent developments, including Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (BVT) (CSE: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF), Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA), AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO), Deere & Company (NYSE: DE), and FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC).
One revolutionary approach being deployed for the $250 billion crop protection and fertilizer industry is the use of commercially-reared bees to deliver biological pesticide alternatives directly to crops. Pioneering this method is Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (BVT) (CSE: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF), which uses bees to deliver biological agricultural products (“biologicals”) which experts are predicting will supplant chemical pesticides and fertilizers. According to DataHorizzon Research, the biologicals sector is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.3%, reaching a market size of US$45.3 billion by 2032.
Earlier today, BVT announced that it is considering various strategic options, including a potential sale or joint venture, to strengthen its capacity to market its innovative biocontrol technologies. The company stated that this move aims to find a more financially robust parent company that can enhance the commercial success of its groundbreaking solutions.
“The Company has developed both a viable biofungicide for seed treatment, foliar and soil applications, and a novel delivery system for biopesticide solutions, generally,” said Michael Collinson, Chairman of the Board of BVT. “We have reached a critical inflection point in our Company’s life cycle, transitioning from a predominantly R&D-focused entity, BVT is now poised to accelerate its commercialization efforts.”
BVT’s management expressed strong confidence in the uniqueness of the company’s technology, namely its proprietary biological control agent, Clonostachys rosea strain CR-7 (CR-7), in global field trials and is witnessing the early stages of commercialization.
A key milestone for the vectoring delivery system for its biofungicide, which has maintained EPA registration since 2019. This innovation showcases BVT’s creative approach and potential for a substantial market impact. Despite significantly reducing sales and marketing expenditures to ensure financial stability amid current capital market challenges, BVT continues to receive robust support from its customer base. Around 20 returning customers have placed orders this season, highlighting the effectiveness and return on investment offered by BVT’s natural precision agriculture system.
BVT has recently made significant progress in its corporate partnerships, leading to new international trials and expanded use of its CR-7 biological control agent. Notably, a trial at Michigan State University demonstrated that CR-7 reduces early disease infection and fungal diseases by over 90% compared to untreated plots, equaling the effectiveness of conventional chemical treatments.
Over the past year, BVT has reached several important milestones, including initiating trials in Spain with Agrobío, Mexico with a major multinational grower, and South Africa with MBFi. This period also marked the first sale of CR-7 to BioSafe Systems. Building on the positive results from the Michigan State University trial, BVT plans to replicate these trials in the coming years to further validate the efficacy of CR-7.
Global pure-play agriculture company Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) recently entered a strategic collaboration with European AgriFoodTech accelerator StartLife, through its subsidiary Corteva Agriscience. Since its inception in 2018, Corteva has been promoting innovative solutions int eh European agriculture sector, leading to opening an integrated R&D center in Germany in 2021, and launching the first Applied Seed Technology Center in Europe in 2022. This new partnership aims to enhance the exchange of knowledge among corporations, startups, and investors, all dedicated to bringing about positive developments in the AgriFood value chain.
“StartLife has been a pioneer in promoting global innovation in the AgriFood technology space, helping grow a host of successful startups that went on to drive impact in their application markets,” shared Tom Greene, who leads Corteva Catalyst, a platform dedicated to investment and partnership aimed at accessing and commercializing agricultural innovations aligned with Corteva’s company goals. “We look forward to collaborating with StartLife to connect to early-stage startups that align with our research priorities.”
Leading agricultural machinery and precision ag tech manufacturer AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO) recently announced an investment in the Innova Ag Innovation Fund VI of venture capital firm, Innova Memphis. The deal falls in line with AGCO’s approach to supporting next gen farming through advanced solutions that promise a more automated, digitized and sustainable future for agriculture.
"This collaboration represents a unique synergy between AGCO's industry expertise and our vision for a technologically advanced farming future and revitalized rural economies," said Dean Didato, a partner at Innova. "Together, we are set to empower the brightest minds in agriculture, driving transformative solutions that promise to enhance farm productivity and profitability and secure a sustainable future for our planet."
Looking to bring thousands of food growers to precision agriculture (aka agriculture 4.0), Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) recently created a new business unit in the Americas, called Precision Upgrade Business. The newly created unit will make available a wide range of products, including hardware and software, to upgrade agricultural machinery that doesn’t already have John Deere’s latest technologies in its original configuration.
“The big opportunity we are bringing is productivity, profitability and sustainability for our customers, initially in North America and South America,” said Jackson Schneider, John Deere unit leader in America Latin. “Our vision is to grow this business unit a lot by 2030. We want farmers to have access to the most up-to-date technology possible, just with upgrades to the agricultural machinery they already have.”
Examples include modems for remote communication with the Operation Center and monitors equipped with GPS-guided operation features, as well as weather updates, consumption metrics, equipment status, and other indicators, with these systems having an estimated price starting at US$7,000. More sophisticated and robust equipment, such as spray bars with independent nozzles and sensors, including See & Spray (one of the brand’s most recent technologies), can cost US$120,000.
Leading global agricultural sciences company FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) recently received registration in Brazil for its Azugro and Ezanya herbicides for use in cotton, tobacco, and wheat crops. The two new formulations will provide growers with new tools to effectively manage herbicide resistance across a wide range of agronomic practices.
"FMC is committed to providing growers with innovative solutions that enhance the productivity and resilience of their land," said Sinara Ferreira, FMC Brazil business director. "We are confident that Azugro® and Ezanya® herbicides will contribute to a healthy crop by providing growers with new and important tools to control weeds that are resistant to other herbicides."
The regulatory approvals in Brazil represent another milestone for FMC and Isoflex® active, which is already registered in Argentina, Australia, and China. Isoflex® active-based products have demonstrated pre-plant, pre-emergence, and early post-emergence selectivity in key crops worldwide, including canola, cereals, oilseed rape, and pulses.
Article Source: https://usanewsgroup.com/2024/04/26/the-currency-of-tomorrow-why-investing-in-cutting-edge-ai-recognition-tech-could-mean-big-money/
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