Agtech

Bio-fertilizers – the Natural Way to Feed the Planet

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
The fertilizer industry will be unrecognizable in 30 years’ time. Currently, nitrogenous fertilizer production contributes 3% of worldwide GHG emissions and uses 3% of global methane supplies. Global overuse of synthetic nitrogen and extractive phosphate fertilizers have created over 500 environmental deadzones through run-off. To compound this, yields of key crops are stagnating or declining where soil health is degrading, while at the same time the planet requires a 2.2% increase in global yield year-on-year in order to feed its... Read More »

Regenerative Agriculture: Agricultural Revolution or Carbon Pricing Capitalism?

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
Regenerative agriculture is about improving soil through better farm practices. The aim is to use farming practices that increase soil health through increased biodiversity, water retention, topsoil protection, and other farming process improvements. One key measure of healthy soil is carbon content. Therefore, a working carbon market for agricultural sequestration of carbon is a powerful lever to promote regenerative agricultural practices. The scale of the opportunity is hard to quantify, as regenerative agriculture practices can be implemented in most agricultural... Read More »

Forbes Agtech Event – A view on the Future of Food from Main Street Salinas

Chris Sworder
Posted on by Chris Sworder
Recently,  I attended Forbes Agtech Event in Salinas and joined over 500 entrepreneurs, investors, farmers, and others to take a look at the next wave of agtech innovation. There were several underlying trends that stood out for me after I spoke to entrepreneurs to learn more about innovation in automation, food safety, supply chain complexity, and of course … water. Last but not least were solutions enhancing nature’s most efficient pollinators: bees.Automation Even with 90% of large farm machinery having... Read More »

The Foodtech Cornucopia Continues

Chrysostomos Meli
Posted on by Chrysostomos Meli
Interest in the Agriculture and Food sector has skyrocketed in the last two years, essentially more than doubling from $800 Million in 2013 to $1.7 billion in 2014. Of particular interest is the massive increase in VC investment in Consumer Food Sourcing companies, a sub-sector of Agriculture and Food. During the same period, consumer food services and particularly on-demand food service companies enjoyed a 7-fold increase in venture capital investment, going from $89 million to $678 million. These same trends... Read More »