Page 10 - World Trade Center Delaware - 2019

From left to right: Dr. Hajime Sakai, Dr. Dilbag Multani and Dr. Narendra Yadav
FARMERS OF THE FUTURE
Companies explore tech solutions to challenges in global agriculture
In July 2019, The World Trade Centers Association kicked
off a global project. The 326-member network organization formed an advisory council to explore solutions in food distribution, animal and plant health, and agricultural technology. Because of its agriculture-heavy economy, World Trade Center Delaware was among the first to sign on.
“Increasing food security and reducing hunger is and will continue to be the globe’s main problem unless significant changes are made in how we produce, process, market, consume, and conserve food,” said Carla Sydney Stone, president of WTC Delaware.
This commitment comes as a slew of Delaware companies explore technology solutions to pressing issues in global agriculture, such as crop health, pest control, and water management. While much of Delaware’s agricultural economy is still dominated by tried-and-true exports such as broilers, feed crops, and soybeans, these firms make up a rising force in the state economy.
Corteva, for example, in early 2019 announced an agreement with DroneDeploy to use its fleet of 400 drones across the company’s global seed production and supply chain. These drones will provide aerial site intelligence for growers from Brazil to Canada, allowing them to diagnose and correct problems with pests, diseases, soil health, and other efficiency gaps.
In other areas, Delaware’s intellectual capital has pitched
in. The chemical company BASF recently registered a “biofungicide seed treatment” with the Environmental Protection Agency that will help plants fight fungal disease. The University of Delaware patented the microbe that will be used in the treatment to protect seedlings and plants across
10 | WORLD TRADE CENTER 2019 | WTCDE.COM
the company’s supply chain.
UD’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Delaware Biotechnology Institute (DBI) did the initial research, with scientists Janine Sherrier and Harsh Bais in the lead.
“WE HOPE THAT OUR TECHNOLOGY CAN
HELP U.S. AND WORLD AGRICULTURE FLOURISH.” Hajima Sakai
Founder and CEO, Napigen
Looking further ahead, the biotech firm Napigen, currently based out of the Delaware Innovation Space, is working on a type a gene editing that could produce a hybrid strain of wheat that is more resilient. The goal, said CEO and founder Hajima Sakai, is for the startup to partner with a larger company that will help produce and distribute the hybrid seeds around the world.
“Wheat is the third most planted crop in the U.S,” Sakai said. “We hope that our technology can help U.S. and world agriculture flourish.”
A recent transplant to Delaware, BMP Logic is working on a technology to help farmers preserve fuel, fertilizer and water. The company is developing soil moisture probes and software that use ground sensors to track activity in a crop’s root systems. The idea is to provide farmers a peek under the soil so they can use their resources more efficiently and safely.
“While this is new territory for us, our soil moisture probes work in any climate and with any crop,” said Doug Crawford, co-founder of BMP Logic in Trenton, Florida. “The climate in Delaware is actually very similar to Florida. And their watermelons are just as sweet compared with those here — if you are properly irrigating.”