Arcadia Biosciences and Bioceres welcome Martin Mariani Ventura as General Manager for Verdeca joint venture

Arcadia Biosciences and Bioceres S.A., today announced they have hired Martin Mariani Ventura as general manager of Verdeca, a joint venture to develop, deregulate and market soybean varieties with next generation agricultural technologies.

Mariani Ventura is a seasoned agribusiness executive with nearly 20 years of experience in various roles, including business strategy, product licensing and commercialization, sales, marketing and research and development. Most recently he served with FMC Quimica Argentina, where he managed the insecticide and herbicide portfolio for the Southern Cone region of Latin America. Before that, Mariani Ventura worked for both DuPont Argentina and Monsanto Argentina, and earlier in his career, he worked with Bioceres. While at Monsanto Argentina, Mariani Ventura was instrumental in the launch of their Intacta insect resistant soybean trait in Latin America South.

“Martin’s experience in product strategy, trait licensing and commercializing new products will be invaluable as Verdeca prepares for the launch of its HB4 drought tolerant soybeans,” said Raj Ketkar, president and CEO of Arcadia. “We look forward to working with him to build the capabilities needed to bring this important trait to market.”

In multiple field trials, Verdeca’s HB4 soybeans have produced stable and high yields under multiple stresses typically found in soybean production areas, including drought and low-water conditions. HB4 soybeans have undergone extensive testing, including six seasons of multi-location field trials in Argentina and the United States and two years of regulatory field trials. Verdeca is currently working with partners to breed the HB4 trait into elite soybean varieties.

“During the 2017-18 drought in Argentina, local soybean farmers have lost an estimated five billion U.S. dollars of crop value beyond what is normally lost due to sporadic drought conditions every year, reminding all of us about the importance of developing solutions to mitigate these adverse weather effects,” said Federico Trucco, Bioceres’ CEO. “Verdeca’s HB4 technology is the only seed technology available today that addresses this specific problem in soybeans. Under Martin’s leadership, we hope to expedite the delivery of this solution to local and regional farmers, through proprietary as well as third party high yielding varieties.”

Arcadia and Bioceres formed Verdeca in 2012 with a goal of deploying its soybean traits in all key world regions, beginning in South America and North America, which makes up close to 80 percent of the global soybean acres, and exporting to China, which is the world’s largest importer of soybean products. Verdeca’s HB4 trait has already been approved in Argentina and by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Regulatory submissions are currently under consideration by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and in Brazil and China.