CTC & PlantArcBio announce a global partnership for developing sugarcane resistant to pests

Centro de Tecnologia Canavieria (CTC), the leading Brazilian sugarcane company and PlantArcBio (TASE: PLNT), a leading Israeli Ag-biotech company specializing in gene discovery and biological components to enhance agricultural crop traits, have announced a global R&D collaboration to discover new molecules and leverage innovative technology to biologically control of sugarcane Pests.

The collaboration intends to utilize PlantArcBio’s expertise in gene discovery and biological components, with CTC’s expertise in sugarcane genetic technology to develop a new method for controlling harmful pests.

According to the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, 1.8 billion tons of sugarcane are produced worldwide every year on 27 million hectares of arable land. Brazil is the leading sugarcane producer in the world with ~40% of world’s sugarcane production, and the second largest producer of ethanol with 26% of the global production. Sugarcane plays a significant role in Brazil energy transition strategy, already accounting for more than 15% of the country’s total energy matrix and being in the forefront of discussions as the most relevant crop for renewable energy applications.

However, Sugarcane pests severely affect sugarcane productivity each year, with hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, jeopardizing the yield in increasing agricultural regions. With this partnership, CTC and PlantArcBio aim to accelerate innovation in crop protection technologies, enabling farmers to grow healthier and more resilient sugarcane crops to accelerate the energy transition.

″Developing novel technologies that can effectively control sugarcane critical pests is a top priority for CTC in order to maximize yield for our customers, while promoting sustainable agriculture″ said Sabrina Chabregas, CTC’s R&D Director. ″At CTC we have the vision to double sugarcane productivity in Brazil in the next 20 years. We believe this collaboration truly accelerates our ability to innovate towards this vision″.

″We are excited to join forces with CTC and form a strategic alliance in the sugarcane sector.″ said Dr. Dror Shalitin, Founder and CEO of PlantArcBio. ″We are excited to leverage our expertise in gene discovery and biological components, developed over years of successful collaboration with strategic partners, to expand our technology into sugarcane. This opportunity allows us to apply our innovative solutions to new areas, furthering our mission to improve agricultural productivity and sustainability and enhance global food security and energy transition.

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