Merging nanotechnology and egg. I'm Tim Parrent with Rural Roots Canada, brought to you by Radiate, exclusively from Nutrient Egg Solutions. Roots are a foundation to your crop success, and can make or break you each season. It's roots that provide that critical foundation for taking up nutrients and water that contribute to your yields each season. It's time to give back to your roots this season, with Radiate, an exclusive product from Nutrient Egg Solutions. Optimized to give your crop a stronger, more robust foundation for yield and quality. If it has roots, it needs Radiate. Visit radiateroots.ca to learn more. Convergent Bio was formed in January of this year, it's a mission to explore nanotechnology and its potential in the agriculture sector. Jason White, Chief Innovation Officer at Convergent Bio admits he used to have doubts about nanotech. I'm a toxicologist, so I looked at nanomaterials as the next emerging contaminant. I mean, they were being used everywhere, and my concern was over exposure and risk. But after years of nanotoxicology research, the science led them in a different direction. What we actually noticed was that not only were there certain times where these nanomaterials were not toxic, but they were actually conveying significant benefit to the plants. So this whole other line of research just kind of grew spontaneously. White says most of the materials they use are already nutrients, they just use them in a nanoscale form. They're much more active, they're much more available, they stimulate different types of reactions. You get all of these benefits with the plant, but because you're working with materials that are so small from a molecular scale, you can use orders of magnitude, lower inputs, ag inputs, and you can get similar or even better responses from the crops. From a regulatory perspective, attitudes towards this tech has changed considerably, and with some of the issues surrounding food security, regulatory hurdles are being eased. We have a significant problem with agriculture and food insecurity, and climate change is only making it worse. So we really need to come up with some novel solutions, how we grow, distribute, and store food. And there are a lot of ways you can use nanotechnology safely, sustainably and effectively. The company is in the process of closing its initial validation of funding. Next step is hiring staff and then getting products to farmers by early 2025. For Rural Roots Canada, I'm Tim Parant, Amplifying Canadian Agriculture. (upbeat music)
