Nano-Yield CEO and co-founder, Clark Bell, emphasized the importance of the agreement both for the company and for Indian agriculture. “We are happy to collaborate with Shriram Farm Solutions as we will transfer our liquid nano-technology to them which will further be used to enhance the efficiency of Shriram’s products. The products will be available for millions of Indian farmers and would further help improve their productivity.”
‘Shriram’ understands the importance of the future role of nanotechnology in India’s agricultural economy. “Nano technology plays a critical role in agriculture,” says Sanjay Chhabra, Executive Director & Business Head at Shriram Farm Solutions.
He added “As we at ‘Shriram’ will have access to the Nano technology it will help effectively tackle the issue of Nutrition Use Efficiency (NUE) and contribute to enhancing various factors that aid crops in combating the adverse effects of climate-induced abiotic stress. This will pave the way for a shift towards sustainable agriculture, as nanotechnology significantly enhances the effectiveness of plant nutrition and liquid applications for crop protection, improving overall efficiency.”
“Our collaboration gives us the opportunity to bring the critical nano-technology to a vast array of agri-inputs, eventually helping in broad-basing nano-tech products for Indian farmers,” says Chhabra.
With the initial license of its technology, Nano-Yield expects to help ‘Shriram’ initially focus on two main crops for the Indian farmers; rice and wheat, which are the country’s major field crops. There is also an expectation that the product will quickly be used to enhance and improve growing and harvesting of table grapes and bananas too. Other tropical fruits and vegetables will also see improved results.
“Before launch, the products will go through extensive trials in the Indian agro-climatic conditions,” says Chhabra. “Post trial, we will jointly develop products for the Indian market. Our goal is to work with Nano-Yield to come out with truly differentiated products which will address unique challenges of Indian growers, which in turn will improve farmer income.”
“This is a landmark agreement for us to work with such a large manufacturing presence,” says Bell. “‘Shriram’ has a pan-India presence and major stake in the Indian agri-input market. At Nano-Yield we are working on several potential deals, hence collaborating with such a respected company as Shriram Farm Solutions will serve notice to companies and countries worldwide, that we are not just here ‘dipping our toes’ into these kinds of agreements.”
Marco Guirado, Nano-Yield Vice President of International Sales is extremely pleased with this new agreement, but also understands it is the first in many important steps to come. “Now we turn to implementation and that is going to be very important for both Nano-Yield and Shriram,” he says. “We know our technology works and we know the Indian farmers will benefit from the same. This multi-year agreement will provide positive results and prove more than advantageous for the country’s famers.”