Regulatory approval furthers sustainable solutions for crops critical to North America
BOCA RATON, FL, UNITED STATES, March 14, 2024 – Zero Gravity Solutions, Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company focused on sustainably improving farmers’ crop yields, today announced the regulatory approval of its first proprietary plant “priming” product by the Mexican government, clearing the way for wider distribution in the region.
In recent years, the prized crops of Mexico — valued at over $40 billion per year in exports to the United States — have come under increasing threat by the climate crisis. Farmers of avocados, bananas, and agave are confronting a hotter, drier environment that can stunt growth and stronger hurricanes that can destroy crops outright. Insulating farms against these abiotic threats typically requires high-volume, high-frequency applications of nitrogen fertilizer and other artificial chemistries. The heavy environmental loads of these chemicals pose risks to ecosystems and human health. Moreover, chemistries often lose their efficacy over time, requiring still higher volume use. Thankfully, there are viable alternatives to incumbent agro-chemistries.
Recent research validates a way to trigger plants’ natural defenses against threats, a technique called “priming.” Similar to the human immune system, plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses are complex, combining a multitude of physiological, molecular, and cellular adjustments. Priming uses non-toxic agents to elicit stronger and more rapid adjustments to stress, much like human vaccines operate. Successful field trials across multiple high-value crops in Mexico show applying priming elicitors increased resistance to health hazards, increased biomass and vigor, and increased yields as compared to untreated plants grown in the same conditions.
“With the registration of our FERTIBAM® product, we are thrilled to commercially offer our plant priming technology to Mexican growers of key crops like banana, avocado, and agave,” said John McLean, Zero Gravity’s Chief Executive Officer. “Across multiple field trials, our first priming product has been very effective in sustainably increasing yield, even when faced with abiotic stressors, including severe weather. With our next generation product, we are excited to further the development of disease mitigation benefits through on-going work with our Mexico trial partners.”
Zero Gravity is poised to expand commercial operations across North America, Latin America, and Asia in 2024. Following new agreements with partners, including in Brazil, Zero Gravity will work with Agro Space Tech, a Mexican distributor dedicated to promoting agricultural innovation, to expand distribution in key crops in the country. Zero Gravity now has over eight years of field trials for its elicitors, across more than 30 vital crops.
About Zero Gravity Solutions, Inc.
Zero Gravity Solutions, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on safe and sustainable agriculture. Its plant priming technology harnesses natural physiology to more sustainably improve crop yields, resistance to disease, and increase farmer profitability. For more information, please visit zerogsi.com.