Arcadia Biosciences receives U.S. patent for nitrogen use efficiency technology in monocot crops

Date:02-07-2014

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc., an agricultural technology company focused on developing technologies and products that benefit the environment and human health, recently announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted the company a key patent for its Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) technology. The patent covers the use of NUE technology in monocot crops such as wheat, rice, corn, sugar cane, sorghum and barley, offering significant benefits to both growers and the environment.

Nitrogen fertilizer is the "fuel" of agriculture, a critical and costly input used to enhance crop yield. Most crops absorb only about half of applied nitrogen, however, leaving the rest to enter ground and surface water systems and to volatize into nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Arcadia’s NUE technology enables farmers to increase crop yield per unit of nitrogen fertilizer applied. The technology has been demonstrated in numerous field trials across multiple crops.

Monocot crops are the most widely grown food and feed crops in the world. The classification includes wheat, rice and corn, which are the first, second, and third most widely grown global crops respectively. Together, these three key crops account for 1.4 billion acres annually, representing an estimated product value of $700 billion. Other monocot crops such as sugar cane, sorghum and barley account for an additional 287 million acres and $133 billion of annual product value.

The issuance of this U.S. patent further expands Arcadia's NUE patent portfolio, which includes NUE technology patents already granted in China, Vietnam, Australia, Mexico, Europe, and other key geographies for monocot crop production. Additional patent applications are pending in multiple jurisdictions.

"Arcadia's NUE technology will help growers improve their on-farm economics while reducing the overall impact of crop production on the environment," said Eric Rey, president and CEO of Arcadia. "The issuance of this patent is a critical step in our strategy to provide solutions that advance both agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability," he said.