Our 360-degree look at the latest agtech developments from across the globe takes in the news that Bunge has announced a deal with xFarm Technologies in Brazil, while ADM has also announced that its global regenerative agriculture programme has exceeded its goals. Scroll through the photo gallery for more…
Image: Getty/Eakarat Buanoi
Our 360-degree look at the latest agtech developments from across the globe takes in the news that Bunge has announced a deal with xFarm Technologies in Brazil, while ADM has also announced that its global regenerative agriculture programme has exceeded its goals. Scroll through the photo gallery for more…
Image: Getty/Eakarat Buanoi
Bunge has announced strategic partnership with precision ag specialist xFarm Technologies to support its Regenerative Agriculture Program in Brazil.
xFarm Technologies will provide decision support systems driven by artificial intelligence, fed with data collected by equipment installed in the field, such as a weather station and smart sensors, as well as satellite images. The solutions can be easily connected to various technologies and operate in an integrated manner with any other management tools in use on the farms. The focus is to make the producer's day-to-day life easier.
"We believe that a fundamental point of our program is to equip producers and the chain in the transition to low-carbon agriculture. Through the partnership with xFarm Technologies, we combine its expertise in technology and precision agriculture with our deep knowledge of grain chains to consolidate a powerful regenerative platform, focused on generating value for producers," said Rossano de Angelis Jr, Bunge's Vice President of Agribusiness for South America.
Switzerland’s xFarm Technologies hopes to establish itself as a European agtech leader after integrating new technology into its digital platform to provide more solutions to help growers become more efficient and sustainable.
HeavyFinance, the company raising €50 million for a private credit fund to help advance agricultural decarbonisation in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal, has announced it will lead the restoration of 300,000 hectares of Ukrainian farmland to give farmers extra income in ‘tough war and post-war times’.
Image: Getty/Alzay
AgTechPR, a global communications firm specialising in agriculture technology, has announced its inaugural Advisory Board composed of leaders driving transformative change in agriculture. Advisors will provide AgTech PR with industry insights and strategic guidance to help advance the organization's purpose.
“When I founded AgTech PR, I set out three objectives: to champion technology that adds tangible value to our food system; to collaborate with smart, passionate people; and to help lift up women in agriculture,” said Jennifer Goldston, AgTech PR founder and CEO. “As the agtech landscape advances, the know-how and experience of these advisors will help us continue to build and protect our clients’ brand reputation.”
The four women joining the board are:
- Julie Borlaug, Borlaug Foundation & Borlaug Consulting: A revered figure in agriculture, Julie Borlaug has tirelessly advocated for smallholder farmers and accessible technology for over two decades. Her multifaceted efforts across public and private sectors have propelled innovation in sustainable agriculture and fostered collaborations between diverse entities. As a distinguished public speaker on both domestic and international platforms, Julie's unwavering commitment to navigating change amid a rapidly evolving global landscape remains unparalleled.
- Bonnie Brayton, Fulcrum Global Capital: A scientist and investor, Bonnie Brayton brings more than 15 years of experience in plant sciences and biotech to Fulcrum Global Capital, an early-stage ag tech venture capital fund. Her tenure at Corteva Agriscience involved developing novel technologies in doubled haploid breeding technologies for corn and sunflower, as well as scouting crop protection technologies and biological products for Corteva’s R&D.
- Erin Fitzgerald, Erin Fitzgerald Consulting: A global influencer, Erin Fitzgerald positioned the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance to serve as the secretariat for the Decade of Ag, a first-of-its-kind, sector-wide movement to fight climate change and build a new future for food agriculture by 2030. Erin has delivered game-changing presentations at the United Nations Food System Summit, Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) and World Economic Forum, presenting agriculture as a solution to climate change.
- Sherry Frey, NielsonIQ: Renowned for her insights into consumer wellness trends, Sherry Frey serves as Vice President of Wellness at NielsonIQ, providing invaluable guidance to major food companies. Her extensive background in marketing and communications offers a unique consumer-centric perspective, bridging the gap between farm and fork while elucidating the "food as medicine" paradigm.
Image: Getty/Georgeijevic
Via a new agreement with UK-based R&D company AlphaBio Control, Bayer has gained exclusive rights to market the first ever biological insecticide which will help farmers control pests in arable crops. The product is expected to launch in 2028.
Image: Getty/AlpamayoPhoto
Israeli agri-tech startup Edete Precision Technologies for Agriculture, a leader in Precision Pollination as a Service (PPaaS) technology, has expanded its pollination areas in California to more than 3,000 acres. It said this fourfold increase in its service provision reflects the critical need for the precise delivery of pure, viable, and high-quality pollen at the right time of female bloom. This comes at a time when changing global weather conditions are hindering natural pollination, resulting in reduced yields.
"Our rapid expansion of pistachio pollination areas in California reflects the growing momentum of Edete as a leader in precision agriculture,” said Eylam Ran, CEO of Edete. “This achievement is part of our ongoing commitment to revolutionizing agricultural practices and ensuring sustainable food production. We are proud to see our technology making a significant impact on crop yields and fostering agricultural resilience."
Image: Getty/ ALEAIMAGE
EIT Food, the world’s largest food innovation community, has announced its new cohort of 58 ground-breaking startups for the EIT Food Accelerator Network (FAN), one of its prestigious entrepreneurship programmes. EIT Food is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.
Each startup will receive access to the world’s largest and most dynamic agrifood community of industry experts, research institutions, corporate partners and investors.
The chosen startups – including 50 from across Europe and eight from EIT Food’s FAN Hub in Brazil – include:
EIT Food Accelerator Network – full list available to download here.
· Clean Food Group (UK) makes sustainable, local, scalable, healthier oils and fats, using fermentation.
· Melt&Marble (Sweden) is on a mission to become an enabler for the alternative protein industry by providing it with the best and tastiest fats, using precision fermentation to produce animal fats without the animal. The result: tastier plant-based foods, for consumers and the planet.
· NOOVI (Slovakia) offers a globally unique line of marking pheromones “Pheromark” that prevent pests from laying eggs on crops, without using any toxins.
· Nukoko (UK) is the new wave of bean-to-bar manufacturing, using fava beans instead of cocoa beans to naturally create a new type of healthy and sustainable chocolate from ingredients that are better for humans and planet.
· Pacifico Labs (Germany) has developed a scalable, carbon-neutral biomass fermentation process that produces seafood alternatives using mycelium and microalgae.
· Pack2Earth (Spain) has developed robust biomaterials from plants and minerals to substitute contaminating plastic in packaging and more.
· P-Agro Minerals (Latvia) has developed an affordable technology that recovers Phosphorus from wastewater in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants, enabling the use of P-Agro directly as a fertiliser in agriculture.
· Papkot™ (France) makes packaging plastic-free, recyclable and biodegradable by replacing plastic with pure paper improved by AI.
· PFx Biotech (Portugal) produces highly bioactive alternative human milk proteins, through precision fermentation, creating a new category of ingredients that will support and boost the immune system.
Image: Getty/Image Source
Indonesia-based agtech firm Koltiva, with over 11 years of experience in sustainable agriculture and supply chain traceability across 61 countries, has launched solutions tailored for businesses seeking EUDR compliance, which mandates rigorous Due Diligence. This process includes extensive Data Collection on product origins, including specific geolocation data, ensuring products are deforestation-free and compliant with local laws. Risk assessments consider factors like country risk levels and forest presence. Additionally, businesses are required to implement Risk Mitigation measures such as audits and supplier support. Finally, the Regulation necessitates annual public reporting on due diligence systems and maintaining related documentation for at least five years.
Manfred Borer, CEO and co-founder of Koltiva said: “By adhering to the regulation, businesses contribute to the global fight against deforestation, a significant factor in climate change and biodiversity loss. With the deadline approaching in less than a year, we reaffirm our commitment to assisting businesses in achieving compliance.”
Image: Getty/Justin Paget
UK-based B-hive Innovations has joined forces with UK premier fresh fruit grower Adrian Scripps Ltd to attract Innovate UK research funding aimed at accelerating agricultural innovation.
The 12-month project will allow apple growers to obtain greater insights into the size, count and variability of their fresh produce at the point of harvest, allowing data-driven decision on crop usage.
The research project will enable a significant extension of the capabilities of B-hive’s flagship technology HarvestEye, which already provides crop-level sizing insights to potato and onion farmers.
The project is being co-led by head of machine learning at B-hive, Dr Mercedes Torres Torres, and James Simpson, managing director at Adrian Scripps, with preliminary work underway to test a range of produce varieties.
Mercedes said: “At B-hive, our objective is simple - to empower growers with the tools they need to deliver long-term, sustainable growth by increasing marketable yields and reducing waste. This has been proven for a number of years now with potato growers, who trust our technologies to deliver better forecasting of their root crops.
“It is exciting to be expanding the technology to operate with other fresh produce. This doesn’t come without its challenges, and we’ll need to undertake some modification to both the hardware and software of the system to ensure it is accurately producing the results we require for the world of fresh produce.”
Image: Getty/Diana Miller
Greeneye has defied the market slump to raise $20 million to scale its US operation.
The Israeli company says securing this round of capital in today’s challenging economic climate is further validation of Greeneye’s mission to drive mainstream adoption of precision spraying technology in the US.
Image: Getty/TheCreativeDrone
BASF and Solidaridad have partnered to understand how sustainable farming activities can have an increased effect on biodiversity, environmental conservation and the coexistence of agriculture and pollinators like bees. The project will be conducted within a network of small to mid-sized soybean farmers in Brazil. The partners will be supported by two organizations: GeoApis, to monitor managed bees and facilitate communication between farmers and beekeepers, and Wheatley Young Partners, to assess the feasibility of a nature-market in Brazil, where farmers are paid to deliver and maintain environmental service projects on their land. The first phase of the project started in January 2024 and is set to run for twelve months.
“What is new about this project is the multi-stakeholder co-creation approach. We want to jointly develop metrics and practices to favor the creation of a biodiverse environment that are accepted and achieveable by all stakeholders – farmers, NGOs, the industry and other experts,” said Sergi Vizoso-Sansano, Senior Vice President BASF Agricultural Solutions Latin America.
Image: Getty/Drs Producoes
ADM has announced that its global regenerative agriculture programme expanded to more than 2.8 million acres in 2023, exceeding its 2 million acre goal. In addition, the company announced that it is targeting 3.5 million regenerative acres in 2024 and is increasing its 2025 goal from 4 million to 5 million acres globally.
“ADM is scaling up efforts to enhance the sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint of the value chains in which we operate, and our leadership in regenerative agriculture is a key driver of that bold agenda,” said Greg Morris, president of ADM’s Ag Services and Oilseeds business. “We know that farmers are stewards of the land, and we offer an array of programs that meet their varied needs and empower each of them in the ways that work best for their individual situations. At the same time, we know that retail and CPG leaders understand the urgency of expanding regenerative agriculture to meet consumer demand, and we’re bringing those downstream customers together with farmers to ensure we’re meeting their needs. This collaborative approach, spanning the value chain, has demonstrated its value through our more than 2.8 million regenerative agriculture acres in 2023, and we’re excited to continue to expand our program and lead in this important global effort.”
Image: Getty/Drs Producoes
US biotech, Maxygen, which specializes in the directed evolution of proteins, is collaborating with Syngenta Seeds to optimize its enabling technologies.
Since the collaboration launched, one of the success factors has been the consistent and robust level of scientific engagement on both sides. Both Maxygen and Syngenta adopted an open collegiate approach from the start, with Syngenta giving the collaboration a high-priority status as part of its core portfolio, enabling the project to progress swiftly.
The teams from Syngenta and Maxygen met frequently to review results, manage decision-making, adjust plans, and mark progress milestones. This approach has delivered success resulting in protein variants with highly improved attributes and the subject of novel intellectual property.
“We’re looking forward to connecting with new partners from academia, research institutes, start-ups, and cross-industry sectors, to work with our extensive global network of scientists and to push the boundaries of what is known today in science,” said Camilla Corsi, Syngenta’s Global Head of Crop Protection Research. “We’re proud of our strong reputation as a collaborator of choice and are excited about the potential of the Shoots by Syngenta platform to generate new possibilities to benefit farmers and agriculture.”
Image: Getty/ Mindful Media