For four years, the team at InnerPlant has been working developing transgenic soybeans that display a color change within several days of being infected by a disease. Today, the company has announced a partnership with Mertec, an Iowa-based breeder and developer of soybean germplasm for the seed trade.
The companies say this collaboration paves the way for plants to emit signals showing attack by pathogens, pests or a lack of water or nutrients.
In is the on the heels of InnerPlant partnering with Satellogic to develop an instrument detecting those signals from space via a satellite.
“Better data directly from plants gives farmers the tools they need to increase yields while reducing chemical inputs,” said Shely Aronov, CEO and founder of InnerPlant. “Combining our new category of seed technology with Mertec’s elite germplasm is a key step toward putting that data into farmers’ hands.”
The InnerPlant technology can signal plant stress within days of infection. The signals can be detected via satellite or on ground-based equipment, such as tractors. The goal is to provide the visual detecting weeks before the farmer would otherwise be able to.
“Farmers and agronomists understand that plants possess inherent knowledge of their needs,” said Joe Merschman, president of Mertec LLC. “This emerging field of seed technology holds the potential to enhance our understanding of these requirements, leading to improved efficiency and higher yields.”
No timeline for availability was included in the news release.
