Harpe Bioherbicide awarded NSF grant to study weed resistance

Date:07-19-2023

Harpe Bioherbicide Solutions, Inc., an agricultural technology company focused on providing natural and sustainable herbicide solutions, was recently awarded a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) that will fund research using its bioherbicide formulations derived from natural plant extracts to control weeds resistant to synthetic herbicides.

The NSF grant totaling $275,000 was awarded to Harpe BioHerbicides as a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project titled, ″Safe control of herbicide-resistant weeds with a novel natural bioherbicide platform.″ Harpe’s portfolio of products, which features new sites and modes of action, offer wide-spectrum control of broadleaf and grass seeds or weeds.

A Harpe Bioherbicide award abstract posted on the NSF website states (Award History Details | NSF SBIR), ″Widespread adoption of the proposed technology is expected to benefit farmers and crop producers reducing societal strain, financial burden, and environmental stress from crop losses due to herbicide resistant weeds by eliminating these weeds through an environmentally safe method, without the use of excess fuel, time, equipment, and synthetic herbicides.″

″We take great pride in funding deep-technology startups that will shape science and engineering results into meaningful solutions for today and tomorrow,″ said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships.

Dr. Chad Brommer, Harpe Bioherbicide co-founder and Chief Technology Officer who is principal investigator on the SBIR Phase 1 project, said, ″Harpe Bioherbicide was created to support farmers on a global scale by developing novel and natural herbicide solutions to help mitigate increasing weed resistance challenges while seeking to advance sustainable practices in global food production.″

NSF is an independent federal agency that funds researchers who generate new knowledge and discoveries that provide a greater understanding of the world. Situated at the intersection of all science and engineering disciplines, NSF is uniquely positioned to identify and guide investments toward new, cutting-edge research areas.