What if plants could talk to farmers and tell them when they’re having trouble? This would not only save plants but also reduce the amount of agricultural waste that threatens the health of the planet.
Much of agriculture may appear green, but the industry is one of the world’s largest carbon emitters. It accounts for at least 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Agricultural waste exacerbates the problem.
Even with the use of pesticides, 40% of global food crops are lost to pests and diseases. Now companies like SatAgro, Climate FieldView and California startup InnerPlant are working to reduce agricultural waste. InnerPlant helps crops communicate with farmers through genetic engineering.
InnerPlant’s technology harnesses fluorescence within plants so leaves signal when they are in distress. The signal can be detected by devices connected to satellites, drones or tractors.
“When a plant responds to stress in the environment, such as fungal stress from insects or a lack of nitrogen, it starts to send out signals and then we can help farmers understand which areas of the field need certain things and which areas are fine but not others. chemicals,” said InnerPlant CEO Shely Aronov.
This way farmers know what to deal with and don’t waste money on chemicals, which can be overused by up to 30%.
Aronoff added: “We want to eliminate all unnecessary chemicals entering our food system and soil, as well as the additional cost that farmers get no benefit from.”
This plant-by-plant technology is highly scalable and can be licensed to major seed companies. InnerPlant will earn royalties, which is attractive to investors.
“If you could apply this technology to every corn seed or soybean seed in North and South America, that’s hundreds of millions of acres, and from a revenue perspective, you could think about a few dollars per acre. All of a sudden, This ended up bringing in a lot of revenue for the business.
In addition to Bison Ventures, InnerPlant is backed by John Deere, MS&AD Ventures, UpWest VC and Bee Partners. Its total funding is $22.3 million.
InnerPlant is currently working closely with small farmers and some of the largest agricultural producers in the United States. Some are paying to get early access to the technology, which will start with soybeans and then expand to other crops.
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