JOHNSTON, Iowa, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Corteva
Agriscience (NYSE: CTVA), and PowerPollen®, an Iowa-based ag tech company that developed the
first and only scalable pollination technology for commodity crops,
today announced a commercial agreement expanding the use of
pollination-on-demand technology, enabling increased flexibility
and productivity for Corteva's commercial corn seed production.
As part of the agreement, Corteva will license the on-demand
pollination technology and gain access to PowerPollen's
prescriptive pollination expertise and algorithms that inform
producers of the optimal pollination timing to increase seed yield,
purity and quality.
"Over several decades, scientific advancements have improved
agricultural productivity, but the challenges associated with
pollination have remained largely unsolved. Based on in-field
testing, we believe PowerPollen's technology will further enable us
to produce high-quality seed for our farmers and improve the
productivity, profitability and sustainability of modern farming
practices," said Neal Gutterson,
Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Corteva
Agriscience.
PowerPollen will be responsible for collecting, preserving and
applying pollen leveraging its patented technology, which uses
custom designed tools and preservation methods built to scale for
commercial operations.
"Preserving and applying pollen at the optimal time to enable
the production of a hybrid provides flexibility and efficiencies
never before achieved in production agriculture. Corteva is the
ideal collaborator to help us accelerate our commercialization
strategy," said Dr. Todd Krone,
co-founder and CEO of PowerPollen. "Since launching PowerPollen
five years ago, we've refined our preservation technology to extend
the window of pollination from a few hours to more than six
months."
The ability to preserve pollen enables product innovation across
a wider variety of hybrids, increasing genetic diversity and
in-season decision making.
The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
About Corteva Agriscience
Corteva Agriscience is a publicly traded, global pure-play
agriculture company that provides farmers around the world with the
most complete portfolio in the industry - including a balanced and
diverse mix of seed, crop protection and digital solutions focused
on maximizing productivity to enhance yield and profitability. With
some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and an
industry-leading product and technology pipeline well positioned to
drive growth, the company is committed to working with stakeholders
throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the
lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress
for generations to come. Corteva Agriscience became an independent
public company on June 1, 2019 and
was previously the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. More
information can be found at http://www.corteva.com. Follow Corteva
on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
About PowerPollen®
PowerPollen, an Iowa-based agtech
company, offers a breakthrough, scalable technology to collect,
preserve and apply pollen on-demand to help improve the
productivity, profitability and sustainability of modern farming
practices. Following multiple seasons of year-round field trials,
PowerPollen's patented pollination technology increased yield by as
much as 44% in commercial hybrid corn seed production fields. The
company has successfully applied its technology across 1000s of
commercial acres over the past several years. PowerPollen is
headquartered in Iowa with
additional research operations in Puerto
Rico and Texas. Visit
https://powerpollen.com/ for more information, or follow
PowerPollen on LinkedIn or Twitter.
SOURCE Corteva Agriscience