Fertilizer International 511 Nov-Dec 2022
30 November 2022
Verdesian Life Sciences: the nutrient use efficiency people
COMPANY PROFILE
Verdesian Life Sciences: the nutrient use efficiency people
After just 10 short years in business, there is a reason why Verdesian Life Sciences has lived up to its mantra ‘the Nutrient Use Efficiency People’. This is not just a slogan – it defines the company’s philosophy and culture. It also sums up Verdesian’s mission to help the world’s farmers do more with less through the company’s broad portfolio of sustainable nutrient efficiency products.
Originally founded in 2012, Verdesian was formed with the sole intention of offering innovative plant health and nutrition technologies.
Fertilizer efficiency products have always been at the heart of the company. A decade later, and after multiple acquisitions and a plethora of new product offerings – see the timeline below – that dedication to fertilizer efficiency has not changed.
Verdesian’s diverse product portfolio, protected by more than 300 patents, is designed to enhance crop uptake, reduce nutrient losses to the environment, and improve yields for all growers across the globe. In short, Verdesian is committed to researching and developing nutrient use efficiency technologies to make farming more efficient, more sustainable, and more profitable.
Not resting on its laurels
Kenneth Avery has been the company’s CEO since 2016. There’s been a step change since his appointment, with Verdesian developing new iterations of its original fertilizer enhancer products. Firstly with N-Charge G, and more recently with Trident, Verdesian has provided the agricultural market with industry-leading nitrogen fertilizer enhancers.
N-Charge G provides proven increases in nutrient use efficiency for treated granular nitrogen fertilizers. Its innovative formulation keeps more nitrogen in the root zone longer, allowing plants to absorb essential nutrients where and when they are needed most.
Trident is the most complete solution on the market for nitrogen loss. It comprises of a series of nitrogen stabilisers that protect against all three forms of nitrogen loss: volatilisation, nitrification, and denitrification.
Trident offers a flexible application rate for urea and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) and provides nitrogen protection in any environment and at every stage of the growing season. It combines time-tested technology with a patent-pending co-polymer solvent blend that improves the efficacy of NBPT and DCD. Trident is also classed as an enhanced efficiency fertilizer (EEF) product suitable for use in conservation stewardship programmes (CSPs).
With the addition of Trident to its product range, Verdesian Life Sciences says it now has the most complete line-up of nitrogen stabilisers in the fertilizer industry.
For phosphorus (P) crop nutrition, Verdesian offers AVAIL T5 – the latest optimised iteration in a long line of P efficiency products. AVAIL T5 uses all-new patented T5 polymer technology to reduce the fixation of applied phosphorus, keeping more P available for plant uptake, speeding early growth and improving crop health and yield potential.
AVAIL T5 makes more applied P available, regardless of source or timing, increasing phosphorus efficiency and uptake by the plant. As a result, up to 45 percent more P is accessible to crops, according to Verdesian. This has environmental benefits as more phosphorus uptake by the plant means less P build-up in the soil and less P losses to streams, rivers, lakes, and bays.
Being a good steward
This emphasis on being a good steward of the soil and water goes beyond just agricultural sustainability. It is a strategic choice for Verdesian and a key pillar of its current and future approach to business, with the company placing major emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
One example of Verdesian’s commitment to ESG is its focus on greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrous oxide represents only seven percent of all greenhouse gas emissions but is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Agriculture alone contributes 74 percent to global N2 Oemissions. Verdesian, however, sees this as a great opportunity due to the enormous positive impact its nitrogen fertilizer products can make in driving down emissions. These products also keep more carbon where it needs to be, by helping to sequester CO2 and increasing soil organic carbon.
From a water quality standpoint, many will be aware of algae blooms in the Lake Erie basin or the Gulf of Mexico, and the phosphorus runoff issues in the Chesapeake Bay area. These problems have forced farmers across North America to explore technologies that reduce nutrient losses – while maintaining the ability to produce food for a growing world. AVAIL T5 is one product offering farmers help with excess environmental P. By allowing more phosphorus to be taken up by the crop, correspondingly less P ends up leaching into groundwater, streams, or other water sources.
VERDESIAN LIFE SCIENCES TIMELINE
