Agrinos appointed new CTO to drive biologicals revolution

Agrinos, a biological crop input provider committed to improving the productivity and sustainability of agriculture, is pleased to announce that Dr. D. Ry Wagner has joined the company as its Chief Technology Officer(CTO), reporting to the CEO and becoming a member of the executive management group.
 
Wagner comes to Agrinos from Dow AgroSciences where he was Global New Ventures and Technology Leader for the past 4 years.  His career before Dow is divided between 16 years in research, and 10 years managing research and platform development in technology-driven start-up companies.
 
Dr. Wagner received his B.Sc.in Botany and Plant Pathology from Michigan State University, and his Ph.D. in Genetics from University Washington. He spent 3 years as a researcher in the Division of Plant Industry, CSIRO, in Australia before joining the University of Oregon, where he became Professor of Biology. He then moved into business, becoming both VP Plant Genetics and Biotechnology at Exelixis, Inc., and Head of Exelixis Plant Sciences, before Exelixis Plant Sciences was acquired by Dow AgroSciences. Dr. Wagner is an author of over 30 research publications and over 50 issued patents and pending patent applications. He has also been an advisor to many international and national scientific forums across the world.
 
"This is a unique time in understanding the essential importance of the entire ecosystem for agriculture productivity and crop health, and recent advances in systems biology and genomics have demonstrated the critical relationship between crops and the microbial community that they inhabit. Establishing and maintaining a productive microbial community in concert with modern agricultural systems is now being recognized as a fundamental consideration for integrated farming solutions and pest management. Agrinos is very well positioned to emerge as a leading contributor to advances in these agricultural solutions”, Wagner said joining the company.
 
As CTO, Dr. Wagner will have global responsibility for leadership of all technical aspects of Agrinos’ business around the world and be based in the US, close to Agrinos main markets as of today. He will further develop the research and product development programmes, application methods and equipment, as well as support product registration and trial methodology and managing all aspects of the technical organization.
 
Commenting on his new position, Wagner said, “Agrinos has a long and fascinating history of developing sustainable solutions to create and maintain a rich agricultural ecosystem that improves crop productivity.   The company has very bright future with its existing product portfolio and in portfolio of products now under development. In these exciting times we will bring a new level of understanding to the technology behind these portfolios, and I very much look forward to being a part of Agrinos as we realize the full potential of solutions for our customers."
 
Wagner is joined by four additional new employees with complementary expertise that have joined the company to help lead continued product development, agronomy and quality for Agrinos. 
 
"Continued development of a robust technology platform, a focus on the best-fit opportunities of current and new products for value-added applications, as well as the continued integration of delivery systems and registration activities are all critical for the future success of Agrinos. Dr. Wagner and his new team is an important and natural addition to the Agrinos team as we industrialise our company and further strenghten our scalability. I’m happy that a reputable industry profile like Ry has come onboard to lift Agrinos further" Tom Einar Jensen, CEO of Agrinos concluded.