Pollen As An Input
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
No ag technology has increased yield more than advanced genetics. Now there might be a new way to optimize crop genetics mid-season. Jason Cope is the co-founder and chief intellectual property officer of PowerPollen. He says they’ve developed pollen to be preserved, stored, and then applied to build in added productivity and resiliency into row crops.
Cope... "So the crop, you're planting hybrid corn being the example. Currently it's self-pollinating. So by definition, it's limiting its yield because it's not good to be self-pollinated, cross-pollination always results in more yield. And so what the opportunity is if you're a farmer, imagine bringing in a trait on the fly post, you didn't have to plant it in the ground. The trait comes in on the pollen and say you wanna go for high oil because oil, you've seen the market in oil, it just continues to increase and increase. So what we can do is come in and cross-pollinate a racehorse hybrid, a great yielder with a high oil trait, and not only increase yield. So our average yield increase for a farmer is 8%. We're able to add 60% more oil on the fly and 14% more kernels, which to a farmer, that's $200 additional dollars per acre.”
PowerPollen currently specializes in corn, wheat, and rice. Learn more at pollenpower.com.
