Of the many challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, the strain on the food supply chain is one that will have touched many of New Ag International’s readership. In Europe, the challenge presented itself as a shift in demand from hotels and restaurants, which were closed in many countries, to increased demand for products in supermarkets. In some cases, this meant there was not always enough of the required packaging size – flour being one example. But overall, the supply chain has been maintained by farmers and growers through to supermarket staff who have kept working while many countries temporarily shut down large parts of their economies.
New Ag International conducted a survey surrounding the impact of Covid-19 on the global agriculture community, and these are presented in this issue. New Ag International also co-hosted a roundtable discussion with EBIC, chaired by Kristen Sukalac, consulting partner at Prospero & Partners. Listen to the podcast in this issue where I ask Kristen to summarize the discussion, and to give a taster of the insights from the panel.
Another challenge from Covid-19 has been to the print publishing sector and the delivery of printed materials. For this reason, and along with similar businesses, we have gone 'digital only' for this issue. The delivery format has changed – which we hope you like – but the structure of the content and the sections are the same, with the addition of other media such as podcasts.
In this issue, we lead with the topical issue of locust swarms. We talk to CABI International and Assimila which have been working together on a mobile phone app for the control of locust outbreaks in China with mycoinsecticides. The software can be used to advise on the optimum time to apply a biopesticide to suppress locust juveniles before they take to the air.
In the leader profile, we include an exclusive interview with Australia’s New Edge Microbials, a provider of inoculants to the domestic market, which has plans to consolidate their offshore activity.
We have some great information from Patricio Trebilcock on the water-solubles market in Chile. Patricio is no stranger to many long-term New Ag International readers, and being based in Chile, he is ideally placed to provide some insight on the market. To complement, Chile is also the subject of this issue’s regional report.
Staying with water-solubles, we also have an interview with Fondin of China, with plenty of numbers on market size and usage by sector.
Contributing editor Dr. Oded Achillea provides an update on the latest trends in nitrates, while Leonardo Gottems tackles the specialty fertilizer market in Brazil.
In the irrigation section, Janet Kanters takes a look at saline irrigation of dates for an unusual application that uses date-palm seeds in the oil drilling industry. It’s not often energy companies appear in these pages, but the ground-breaking work of Dr. Mohammed Amanullah with Saudi Aramco is certainly noteworthy.
On the biocontrol front, New Ag International Editor Janet Kanters fires the questions to Dr Gadi V.P. Reddy, who has been granted a patent for a pest-fighting fungi.
I followed up a presentation from when I was at ABIM 2019, and spoke with Dr. Johannes Fahrentrapp, a research fellow at Zurich University of Applied Sciences, about his project on an automated airborne pest monitor.
And staying with high-tech, have you ever thought that it might be possible to build a biodegradable sensor to place in a field? Janet Kanters has the lowdown directly from Gregory L. Whiting, mechanical engineering associate professor with University of Colorado Boulder, and leader of the project.
Of course, what will Covid-19 mean for investment in these and other new technologies? Finistere Venture’s Arama Kukutai spoke with me about the biologicals investment space and how the pandemic might shape the deal-making landscape this year.
So, as you can see, it is a full issue. Hopefully it delivers plenty for you to think about – just in a different format. You can always download as a PDF, and click through to advertiser websites to learn more. Enjoy the issue.
New Ag International JUN/JUL 2020
