Image: Soilgenic Nutrients website
Let’s begin with the corporate side before diving into the products – what’s the relationship between Soilgenic Nutrients and ESG? Perhaps you can tell readers a little bit about ESG and its investment strategy.
Soilgenic Nutrinets is a subsidiary of ESG Global Impact Capital Inc. and is focused on the sustainable agriculture space. ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) is a Canadian investment issuer focused on high growth projects and opportunities which have a commitment to a socially responsible, ethical and sustainable alternative to traditional business models. ESG is traded on the Toronto venture exchange (TSX.V: ESGW and OTCQB: ESIFF).
Before asking what the plan is for you as CEO, could you give a brief summary of your career to date and how you became interested in sustainable agriculture? I’ve been in agriculture for 32 years now and pretty much all of those years focused on the fertilizer sector. I started my career in the retail sector in Western Canada and then moved over to Tiger-Sul products focusing on sulphur-based fertilizers and micronutrients. After moving into managing the Canadian market, I switched focus to managing the international business development for the group. I also worked with The Sulphur Institute (TSI) as the project lead for the promotion of sulphur-based fertilizer in the India market working closely with the Fertilizer Association of India. For the past 10 years I’ve worked with Ag Growth International (AGI) / Yargus Manufacturing and continued to focus on international development projects including in developing regions, working closely with NGOs and governments on the development of fertilizer plants to increase food security. During this period, we saw the IPCC release the report on agriculture and the impact on climate change. Globally we have seen a push for sustainability in agriculture. One of the major contributors to climate change is food and agricultural waste streams as they contribute up to 30 percent of GHG emissions. I have also been working closely with a couple of groups with innovative sustainable nutrient technology that utilizes food and agricultural cellulose waste that would have a significant impact globally. This has brought me to Soilgenic Nutrients and our focus on sustainability and how we can play a major role in providing new technologies for farmers transitioning to a low carbon farming system.
So, what’s the plan? You have proprietary technologies and a pilot plant – what is Soilgenic aiming to produce and where is it planning to sell?
We have three products groups that have patented our unique IP technology that we are focusing on. Two technologies are similar in that they can work closely together and utilize the same granulation process. We are working with a company that is moving its production from R&D to a mid-production facility. The technology utilizes food waste and creates a hybrid sustainable fertilizer with phosphate and sulphur. Through the production process, the bio-active formulation will enhance the soil with added carbon and organic matter and through a host of beneficial bacteria. The beneficial bacteria utilize the carbon as a food source and work with the fertilizer minerals to feed the crop through the growing season. In addition, the second technology is a cellulose based micronutrient technology that creates a natural chelate that is safe for the plant and the environment. The micronutrient stays available in soils with a pH of four to 10 and is bioavailable to the plant when it needs the micronutrients. The research has shown amazing results, with plant response and uptake much higher than traditional micronutrient sources. We are also able to incorporate the micronutrient into the bio-active phosphate / sulphur technology to create a formulation to address the crop’s micronutrient needs or to correct deficiencies. This creates a line of sustainable low carbon fertilizers for farmers to utilize.
In terms of marketing, how would you categorize your intended product offering? You are incorporating nutrients and microbials, and there doesn’t seem to be a category term for those yet. You are correct that the products are unique, but we will be categorizing them as nutrients and promoted as sustainable low carbon nutrients that can be used in the conventional, sustainable organic and regenerative markets. We see these products as a tool to assist farmers to improve the health of their soils and the microbiome and our unique nutrient formulations.
I said “technologies” because you also have a biopolymer technology that encourages the leaching of sodium out of soils – can you elaborate? Yes, the technology is a polymer that will be a solution for saline, sodic and compacted soils. Approximately 500 million acres globally are affected by sodium. The technology is added at low quantities to the soil and helps to liberate the salts without added cations. When used in a proper management strategy, we have seen significant yield increases as high as 50-70 percent with a significant improvement on plant quality and nutrient density. We are quite excited about this technology as it is a new tool for growers with salt issues as well as soils that have been written off due to the high level of salt in the soil profile.
When we spoke, you mentioned the possibility of a commercial scale plant for the P-S products in Canada – when might we see that coming on-stream? As mentioned, we are increasing production in 2021 to a mid-size production plant to continue to scale out the technology for the North American and international markets. We have several groups looking to test the products in their regions and are looking for strategic partners who want to grow the technology together. Globally, we see all countries that must deal with food and agricultural waste streams, and we offer a viable cost-effective solution. We can build out the production facilities in these regions and provide the IP and know-how for the plants. The result is an enhanced low carbon nutrient solution that will help to reduce agriculture’s effects on climate change while increasing food security as the population grows.
I understand you are also looking at the broader sustainability picture – for example, looking at other forms of nitrogen production. How does that fit with the Soilgenic vision? Yes, our focus is to provide a complete sustainable nutrient solution, not just one piece of the nutrient puzzle. We are looking at nitrogen and how we can not only reduce the carbon footprint but also increase the efficiency and minimize loss to the environment. This is currently under review and will be a focus once we get the P-S and micronutrient technologies established although we have technologies that we can easily work with in this space.
Jeff Ivan
New AG International NOV/DEC 2020
