Innovative technology delivers higher yields and promotes the potential of important crops
Vienna (OTS) – The Liechtenstein Group, known for its commitment to sustainable agriculture and innovative technologies, has led a EUR 22.5 million financing round in the US company PowerPollen. PowerPollen has developed a unique pollination technology that can collect, store and target pollen at the right time. The technology promises significantly improved pollination and thus higher crop yields.
Pollen from wind-pollinated crops typically only survives for a few minutes to a maximum of hours. Climate change – drought, excessively high temperatures, insect extinctions and extreme weather events – has made pollination of plants even more complex. PowerPollen’s technology offers a contemporary solution to these crop challenges and ensures greater stability and consistency in agricultural yields.
PowerPollen’s patented technology and hardware allows pollen to be collected from male plants and extends pollen viability up to four years for future applications. With a special applicator, the pollen can be applied to the fields at exactly the right time and under ideal conditions. Increases in corn seed yields of over 20 percent contribute significantly to improving global food security. Targeted pollination “on demand” reduces the need for male plant rows, resulting in less land use and lower water and resource consumption.
In recent years, PowerPollen has demonstrated the potential of its technology through successful partnerships with industry leaders such as Bayer and Corteva for corn and BASF for wheat, demonstrating the value of scalable innovations like PowerPollen to achieve global goals for more sustainable food production.
„Our technology has been proven effective in corn for years and continues to show strong potential for applications in other crops. With the new financing, we will continue to advance our technology, supported by the expertise and global network of the Liechtenstein Group,” said Todd Krone, co-founder and CEO of PowerPollen.
PowerPollen Rice Joint venture relies on needs-based pollination for hybrid rice
In addition to its stake in the PowerPollen parent company, the Liechtenstein Group also has a promising joint venture called PowerPollen Rice founded with PowerPollen. The company focuses on the development and marketing of rice pollination technology. This research collaboration is expected to lead to the commercialization of PowerPollen technology for rice seed production by 2027.
Hybrid rice, which offers a yield advantage of 20 percent or more compared to traditional pure varieties, remains a cornerstone of global food security. Traditional rice farming poses increasing environmental and economic risks, including very high water consumption, methane emissions and difficult working conditions. An improved pollination system for hybrid rice has the potential to significantly increase the global value and sustainable production of rice.
„We are absolutely convinced of the technology and its importance for more sustainable agriculture and global food security. For RiceTec, our rice seed company, the technology also has enormous potential to promote more sustainable cultivation of this staple food for billions of people worldwide,” said Johannes Meran, CEO of the Liechtenstein Group. “With RiceTec’s genetics and PowerPollen’s technology, we can further increase the efficiency of hybrid rice production and thus take a significant step forward in global food security and climate protection.
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About the Liechtenstein Group
The Liechtenstein Group is a Vienna-based international group of companies and investment platform owned by the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation, which is active in the business areas of agriculture and food, forestry, renewable energies and real estate. The group pursues a long-term and internationally oriented investment strategy, focused on its four core sectors. Through its activities, the Liechtenstein Group aims to make a positive contribution to the sustainable development of these sectors. The Liechtenstein Group’s portfolio companies include the rice seed company RiceTec, N-Drip, the LIECO Group, TESVOLT, PV-Invest, the Wilfersdorf estate and forestry company, Forst Kalwang and Liechtenstein Immobilien. Further information at www.lgroup.com.
About PowerPollen
PowerPollen® provides groundbreaking, scalable technology to collect, preserve and distribute pollen on demand to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of modern agricultural practices. After several years of year-round field testing, PowerPollen’s patented pollination technology has increased yields of commercial hybrid corn seed fields by more than 20 percent. In recent years the technology has been applied to thousands of hectares. PowerPollen is headquartered in Iowa with additional research facilities in Puerto Rico and Texas. Further information on the technology of demand-based pollination of PowerPollen can be found at www.powerpollen.com.
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Liechtenstein Group
Allowed. Julia Holter
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