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Iowa-based PowerPollen signs agreement with India’s VNR Seeds

An Iowa biotechnology company has announced a new collaboration with a seed company from India as part of an effort to help improve trading relationships with the country.

Kavi Chawla, senior advisor to Ames-based PowerPollen, says the agreement will help them provide cutting edge pollen technology to VNR Seeds. “We can store pollen in the field for up to five days,” he said. “What that unlocks is the ability to really control when you pollinate the plants, getting as much pollen on that silk for maize in particular at the right time.”

He tells Brownfield, “From a production perspective, that creates the opportunity to increase yields per acre by anywhere from 40%, which is currently where we are now given our current application technologies, potentially up to 80% or 90% as we continue to focus on precision ag.”

Jessica Hyland, executive director of the Iowa Biotechnology Association, says the deal was signed during a recent trade mission to India. “As far as the impact that we can have, it’s hard to describe it when you get there and you start having these conversations and learning more about the market’s massive population growth and the stresses on their current systems, agricultural systems in particular.”

Chawla says transforming India’s corn cultivation could open the door for future ag biotech collaboration in future years.

INTERVIEW: Kavi Chawla and Jessica Hyland 10-4-2024

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