Streamlining food production is an important vehicle for reducing the environmental impact from the food system. Here we present some breakthrough solutions from our Global Opportunity Explorer.
A recent study from University of Oxford estimates that implementing a selected handful of new advanced technologies and changes in management practices could lead to a reduction in the environmental pressures of the food system by 3-30% and up to as much as 54% in a “high ambition” scenario.
There are already many technological solutions and new ways of producing food that are available and scalable to help us to tap into the potential of streamlining our food production.
Here we give some examples.
Psst.. Don’t forget to visit the food space on the Global Opportunity Explorer, presenting the most outstanding and promising solutions already implemented.
The insects bred and distributed by BioBee help to reduce the use of chemical sprays and pesticides in greenhouses and on open fields around the world.
BioBee breeds insects that do the work of harmful pesticides by attacking the pests that damage crops. These insects are bred and grown at BioBee’s facilities and include predatory mites, ladybugs and wasps. They are then shipped to farmers worldwide to be deployed as biological pest control in their fields.
Local Food Nodes connects local food producers and consumers through a digital marketplace and physical pick-up nodes, helping to re-localise food supply.
Driven by their ambition to make food local again, Local Food Nodes has developed a digital marketplace that connects producers and consumers, enabling them to engage in direct transactions and exchange goods in local food nodes.
Non-toxic bio-based products can control pests and improve agricultural plant health without using chemicals that can harm people and beneficial insect populations.
Marrone Bio Innovations provides bio-based pest management and plant health products for the agricultural, turf and water treatment markets. The biopesticides used are naturally-occurring substances, such as microbes, bacteria and plant extracts, which are used to control pests, improve plant health and increase crop yields. The pesticides are non-toxic and reduce the use of more aggressive agrochemicals that are harmful to the environment, people, and which also kill beneficial insects such as honey bees.
Bio-Based Products for Agricultural Pest Management and Plant Health
Aqutonix is a water efficiency enhancement technology that facilitates the absorption of the water in plants’ roots, reducing water consumption and boosting yields.
Due to water’s chemical properties, molecules tend to group together in ‘clusters’ which have to be broken down by the plant before the individual molecules can be absorbed through the roots’ cell walls. Aqutonix’s technology facilitates water absorption through exposure to a high voltage electric field which breaks the clusters down, making individual molecules available to plants.