Gebisa Ejeta, known worldwide for agricultural innovation and expertise in food economy, policy and security, has been named the Purdue University Presidential Fellow for Food Security and Sustainable Global Development. Purdue University President Mitch Daniels announced the appointment today (Oct. 20).
Ejeta, a World Food Prize laureate and distinguished professor of agronomy, is also executive director of the Purdue Center for Global Food Security. He has served at the highest advisory levels of science and national policy, including as special advisor to the administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, as science envoy of the U.S. State Department, and as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources. He also has been a member of the U.S. Board for International Food and Agricultural Development and the U.N. Secretary’s Scientific Advisory Board.
“Dr. Ejeta’s scholarly excellence and his immense impact in advancing agricultural science and sound policy for food security are internationally recognized,” Daniels said. “We hope this designation here at Purdue casts another bright light on his accomplishments and demonstrates the university’s commitment to his continuing work to improve global food security and its related causes.”
Jay Akridge, Purdue provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity, and Theresa Mayer, executive vice president for research and partnerships, said Ejeta’s leadership in this role will significantly advance the university’s work to support sustainable global development with a focus on food and nutrition security. In this role, Ejeta will shape the university’s efforts in these areas and work to promote Purdue’s global food security agenda with federal agencies, foundations and private entities to enhance competitiveness.
“Through his strategic leadership, Gebisa has directed the talent and resources from across the university’s wide expertise to develop lasting approaches on food insecurity,” Mayer said. “His successes have resulted not only in a growing global community but also in nurturing the leaders of tomorrow who will tackle our world’s evolving challenges.”
Ejeta will continue to help shape, and advocate for, food-security strategies through ongoing engagements with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, among other agencies. After 10 years as a member of the U.S. government’s Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, he continues to consult with its members. His ongoing involvement is likely to continue to have great impact due to the recent White House announcement of $8 billion in new initiatives in hunger, nutrition and health. The new plans include investments of $2.5 billion in startup companies that provide solutions to hunger and food insecurity.
In 2009 Ejeta was awarded the World Food Prize for his research in creating sorghum hybrids that are resistant to both severe drought and the destructive parasitic Striga weed. The resulting dramatic increase in sorghum production has helped to feed hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa.
Ejeta experienced poverty and hardship as a child living in a one-room thatched hut in west-central Ethiopia. His mother, who was determined that he get an education, saw to it that he attended school in a nearby town. Ejeta would walk 12.5 miles to school on Sunday nights and walk home after school on Fridays.
His academic excellence earned him financial assistance for second-level school, where he graduated with distinction. He later received his bachelor’s degree in plant science from Alemaya College in eastern Ethiopia. His college mentor introduced him to Purdue professor and sorghum researcher John Axtell, who invited Ejeta to assist in his sorghum work. Ejeta would then earn his master’s and PhD in 1976 and 1978, respectively, and join the Purdue faculty. In 2011 Purdue launched the Center for Global Food Security with Ejeta at the helm to lead initiatives that respond directly to urgent global challenges, primarily meeting today’s global food needs and ensuring that strategies are in place to ward off future food insecurity as the world population grows and the climate changes.
For Ejeta, the Purdue University Presidential Fellowship represents both the university’s commitment to continue to advance an agenda of purpose-driven science and to him as a person and a professional.
“In this 21st century with all the advancements in knowledge and science we have achieved and in all the abundance of both natural and physical resources we have around the world, we still have hunger and poverty around the world, and the huge gap that exists between haves and have-nots is a sad commentary on humanity at large,” Ejeta said. “This commitment is to continue that struggle and fight both within our country here as well as internationally toward eradication of hunger and minimizing poverty.”
Ejeta will continue to lead the Center for Global Food Security, which was formerly aligned within Discovery Park District at Purdue and will now be situated within the College of Agriculture.
“As the Purdue College of Agriculture, we care deeply about global food insecurity and its impact on people and the environment,” said Karen Plaut, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of the College of Agriculture. “With Dr. Ejeta as the executive director of the center, we continue to be well positioned to bring together faculty and staff across the university to tackle this critical problem.”
The center will continue to take a comprehensive, holistic, transdisciplinary approach to its educational and research programs and to its mission to develop strategies and tools needed to address the causes and consequences of food insecurity worldwide. It will continue to mobilize its faculty and partners on critical questions arising from interactions of agricultural production and food systems with climate change, energy demand and supply, policy responses and population growth.
Intelinair and Leaf announced today a new collaboration agreement that will more efficiently serve ag retailers and farmers throughout the growing season. In the agreement, Intelinair plans to use Leaf’s API to better serve its customers.
“Through this collaboration, Intelinair adds more efficiency in integrating with OEM data sets, which allows AGMRI® to provide more robust data analytics and insights to our customers,” said Kevin Krieg, Intelinair’s Director of Business Development. “This integration allows farmers and ag retailers to more easily access data and track field performance throughout the growing season which ultimately enables more timely decision making.”
“We are delighted to have Intelinair join the Leaf ecosystem,” said Bailey Stockdale, CEO and co-founder of Leaf. “It is exciting when a talented team has a clear understanding of how they can use Leaf to deliver new value to their customers and that is exactly what we have seen with Intelinair. We’re excited to see how Intelinair continues to support farmers and their trusted advisors and proud of the role we are able to play with Intelinair and their customer base.”
Intelinair will use Leaf’s Field Operations and Field Boundary services to retrieve consistent Field Operations data from external data providers, while also automatically associating that data with the correct Grower, Farm, and Field across each customer’s data sources. Intelinair will then use this data across their applications to enhance their suite of analytic tools and equipping farmers and ag retailers with more robust, timely insights. Data use will follow user permissioning and agreements.
Intelinair and Yara North America have announced a collaboration to bring together the nitrogen modeling power of Adapt-N® with the analytical power of Intelinair’s AGMRI®. This unique offering will further support ag retailers, crop consultants and farmers in optimizing nitrogen use efficiency in their corn crops.
“Through a combination of Intelinair’s AGMRI early season analytics around stand establishment and crop health, coupled with Yara’s Adapt-N science-based nitrogen modeling, we will enhance nitrogen management for corn for the next growing season,” stated Tim Hassinger, Intelinair CEO. “Additionally, through this collaboration nitrogen insights will be automatically generated throughout the growing season and customized to management zones within each field. Farmers can adjust if needed to fit their budget, forecast and management approach.”
Through AGMRI’s integration with the John Deere Operations Center, this variable rate information can be sent to the machine to precisely apply the right amount of nitrogen in precisely the right place to optimize the yield potential of each corn plant, ensuring an optimized nitrogen use efficiency and a more sustainably grown crop.
“Improving economic, agronomic, and environmental outcomes for our customers is paramount at Yara. The integration of Adapt-N with Intelinair’s AGMRI allows automated insights to further refine the Adapt-N model and create improved outcomes for our joint customers,” said Bret Shaw, digital sales and commercialization development manager, Yara North America. “This integration fundamentally changes the way that nitrogen modeling is applied to the corn cropping system, the value this brings to the market will be immediately evident by allowing farmers to adjust their nitrogen needs based on the most accurate and timely data possible.”
This integration is an additional feature within Intelinair’s AGMRI® product and the option to use Adapt-N and AGMRI® independently of each other will remain available to customers.
Power is a critical component of growing and scaling economies. This week we are joined by Brian Anderson, director of economic development at Wabash Valley Power Alliance, to talk disruption to the industry, the organization’s balanced path to decarbonization and working alongside agbioscience industry leaders to create big impact in Indiana.
West Lafayette-based venture studio DIAL Ventures has launched its first startup. Croft says its Software-as-a-Service platform streamlines the H-2A visa process, which allows farmers to legally hire migrant workers for seasonal labor, such as harvesting fresh fruit and produce. The platform digitizes documents, automates workflow processes, and improves communication between the many stakeholders involved in the hiring process.
“What’s really important to understand is how many different groups are involved in this,” said DIAL Ventures Executive Director Allan Gray, in an interview with Inside INdiana Business. “You’ve got the farmer, you’ve got the worker, you’ve got the visa processor, you’ve got the government agencies, you’ve got the folks that are doing the recruiting of the workers in the foreign countries. There’s just this cadre of people involved in the process. And the communication amongst them is really challenging.”
Get the full story from Inside INdiana Business here.
Cummins made news recently with the announcement that they would partner with Buhler Industries, Inc. to integrate the company’s 15-liter hydrogen engines into Buhler’s Versatile equipment. This week, we are joined by Ann Schmelzer, general manager of Cummins global agriculture business.
They dive into diversifying power in agriculture, innovation creating powerful – and sustainable – engines and the comparison of hydrogen to diesel engines when it comes to performance.
Learn more about Cummins’ partnership with Buhler Industries, Inc. here.
He’s an entrepreneur turned venture capitalist and today, he’s on the podcast. Christopher “Toph” Day, the new CEO of Elevate Ventures, joins us to talk about the venture fund’s work in Indiana, helping companies beyond capital and making intentional connections to bring big ideas together. He also digs into the agbiosciences, opportunities for growth and what can be expected ahead for the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The United Soybean Board (USB) announced the award of $1.1 million to the Purdue University Food Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing Institute (FEMI), in partnership with the University of Arkansas and the University of Missouri, for a joint project that is working to build infrastructure and connectivity for small- and medium-scale processing of soy-based value-added products.
The project is co-funded by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, a federal organization that supports research activities focused on addressing key agriculture problems including plant health and production, agricultural economics and rural communities, and agricultural and food security.
Dharmendra Mishra, associate professor and director of FEMI, will lead the project that was born out of a national discussion on the soybean value chain. Fellow Purdue team members for the grant are Senay Simsek, department head and professor of food science; Katy Rainey, associate professor of agronomy; and Karen Hudson, a USDA-ARS research and molecular biologist. Beginning Oct.1 with a planned one-year time frame, the project will focus on phenotyping for compositional traits in novel value-added applications, trials to eliminate pressure on small- to medium-scale industry sectors and final product quality and sensory evaluations.
A St. Louis-based grain and soybean manufacturer is planning to spend $445 million to expand its processing plant in Morristown.
Bunge North America Inc., an agribusiness and food company, plans to invest $360 million in new machinery and equipment, along with an estimated $85 million in construction and building improvements at its soybean crushing plant at 700 N. Range Line Road.
The effort is expected to result in 70 additional jobs by the end of 2025, raising employment at the plant to 177.
With a total capital investment of nearly half a billion dollars, Bunge’s expansion would be the largest economic development project in Shelby County since South Dakota-based biofuels productor Poet LLC built a $160 million facility in Shelbyville, creating 45 full-time jobs., according to Brian Asher, executive director of the Shelby County Economic Development Corp.
The Agtech Startup Eager to Scale Company in Advance of 2023 Growing Season
– Smart Apply®, an agtech startup whose precision spray system and data collection technology significantly reduces chemical and water usage in orchards, nurseries, and vineyards and advances sustainability goals, has successfully raised $1.8 million in an extension of a seed round, which is now closed with a total raise of $3.1 million.
Serra Ventures led the round with a commitment of $750,000. Also participating in the seed round extension are Frontier Angels, and VisionTech Angels. Both Frontier Angels and VisionTech Angels made follow-on investments to their initial seed round participation in May 2022.
“Serra Ventures had been following the great progress of the Smart Apply team for over a year before making our recent investment decision. This is a technology and a team that is a crucial value-add to the ag tech landscape. We are excited to join them as they tackle a major industry pain point of overspray and excessive chemical usage,” said
Serra Ventures CEO and Managing Partner Tim Hoerr.
The Smart Apply system helps solve significant financial, operational, regulatory, and sustainability challenges faced by orchards, nurseries, and vineyards around the world. In 2022, growers experienced intense pressure from rising chemical costs, droughts and labor shortages. Additionally, there are increased regulatory, marketplace, and consumer demands to reduce and better control chemical use.
Smart Apply President and CEO Jerry Johnson said, “The world’s fruit, nut, tree, grape, and other permanent crop growers recognize the need to adopt technology that supports production while protecting the environment. As growers experience the significant benefits of reduced dependence on chemicals, cost savings on chemicals and labor, and automated data reporting, demand for the Smart Apply system will grow exponentially. This raise will enable us to dramatically strengthen our presence and impact among key targets in advance of the 2023 growing season, including growers, equipment dealers and equipment manufacturers.”
Proceeds from the raise will be used to build upon Smart Apply’s impressive momentum in which it doubled sales of its precision spray and data collection system in 2021 and 2022. The company will be building out its sales team, increasing marketing and expanding manufacturing capacity.
Johnson adds the ease with which Smart Apply’s technology can be integrated into growers’ current processes is a major competitive advantage. “Our system is sold as a kit that is compatible with nearly all air-blast sprayers. It has the added benefit of capturing critical data while spraying to help growers monitor and manage orchard health. Growers can use this data for reporting to regulatory agencies as well as to support immediate and long-term operations of their orchard or vineyard.”
The Smart Apply Intelligent Spray Control System is based on more than a decade of development, field-testing, and research by the USDA Agriculture Research Service. A study published in The Journal of ASTM International in September 2020 found that the system reduced pesticide use by 60 percent, 52.8. percent and 50 percent on average at two nurseries and a fruit farm, respectively. Iowa State University shared results of their 2020-2021 research in May 2022 on Iowa and Ohio apple orchards that realized reductions in spray volumes of 40 to 80 percent compared to standard air blast sprayers.
