Grace Breeding's proprietary bio-fertilizer show superior growth results in Brazilian corn

Date:01-27-2023

Grace Breeding Ltd. (TASE: GRAC), a forward-thinking AgClimateTech company developing biological-based products to improve crop yield and vigor for farmers and distributors, today announced positive results from a study of its proprietary bio-fertilizer, ″NFT″, an environmentally friendly alternative to urea, the typical component in synthetic fertilizer, conducted under a research and development collaboration with the University of Londrina (UEL), based in Paraná State, Brazil. The findings from this study are important since Grace Breeding’s NFT would allow farmers to significantly reduce their dependence on synthetic fertilizer that is harmful to the environment, as well as provide them with an alternative that is more economically viable.

The state of Paraná, where the UEL is located, is a major region involved in the global agricultural production of key grain and legume staples, most notably of corn and soybeans. This year, 60% of the expected global production of over one billion tons of corn is to come from the U.S., China and Brazil1. As such, the University has been conducting supportive testing evaluating the growth of both corn and soybean seedlings with Grace Breeding’s NFT. The study is jointly being conducted with Grace Breeding’s other collaborator, Gaia AgroSolutions.

Corn is of particular concern, since it requires high amounts of nitrogen-based fertilizer to produce, even more than soybeans, driving end prices high. Specifically, during production, the corn plant removes large amounts of nitrogen (N), requiring the use of urea, a nitrogen fertilizer. However, the use of urea creates massive emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere (also known as ″carbon emissions″) as a bioproduct of the fertilization process, which causes environmental damage of the earth’s protective ozone layer. Grace Breeding’s NFT is able to reduce the amounts of urea necessary for the corn growth process because it has properties that stimulate the metabolic process of plant growth and it also results in reduced use of water for growth as well.

In 2021, Brazil consumed approximately 8 million tons of urea2. However, more recently, Brazil’s access to urea has been scarce because it obtains much of its supply from Russia, which is the world’s largest exporter of fertilizers but is still at war with Ukraine.

″The use of urea to increase our food supply has created a vicious cycle of demand – plant -consume – degrade,″ remarked Assaf Dotan, Chief Executive Officer of Grace Breeding. ″In addition, the need for large quantities of nitrogen – which is difficult to access right now – to obtain high yields of corn has triggered public and private institutions to find alternatives. In this study our NFT showed an improvement in crop growth and yield. A low-carbon emission system will serve as a sustainable agribusiness solution for farmers - one that we believe would support both economic stability and environmental sustainability.″

Specifically, results from the UEL study showed that the corn seeds treated with NFT had:

-a quicker germination process

-superior or equal metrics related to plant growth such as height, fresh and dry mass of aerial part and root, leaf length and width

-greater efficiency in the use of nitrogen demonstrated by measures of vitality such as green coloring of leaves (indicating an increase in chlorophyll content), and nitrogen content, leading to a potential reduction of more than 50% in nitrogen in corn cultivation

-more efficient use of water

-released less carbon into the atmosphere, enabling a sustainable production system

″Grace Breeding’s NFT presents properties that stimulate the metabolic process of the plant – physiological, respiratory and secondary-metabolic pathways – promoting greater growth and better development of corn, ″ remarked Professor Juliano Tadeu Vilela de Resende Ph.D. of the Agronomy Department at Universidade Estadual de Londrina. ″Based on our early results, we believe that this technology may effect a significant advancement in sustainable agriculture, enabling low carbon emissions, as well as support the economy in the more efficient use of water and nitrogen.″