By Kathy Neal
This summer’s soaring temperatures, raging wildfires, record-setting droughts and major flooding have affected millions of people around the world, demonstrating the devastating effects of shifting climates. Meanwhile, costs are increasing for vital inputs such as fertilizer and fuel.
The good news: Agricultural biotechnology innovators are developing potential solutions to these and other industry challenges. In North Carolina alone, there are more than 180 agtech companies and hundreds of world-class agtech scientists.
More good news: The North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative at North Carolina State University has been selected as one of only two U.S. research hubs to collaborate and advance promising agtech companies seeking to overcome these challenges. The other hub is the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Innovate.
Solving Grand Challenges
The researchers are working with the first cohort of companies selected for the HARVEST AgTech program, a global technology validation platform led by the Yield Lab Institute in St. Louis. Cohort companies were selected through a competitive, independent evaluation process, with each company receiving funding specifically to support their commercialization efforts through research projects with either university partner.
Source : ncsu.edu