25 Aug 2010 07:00
| Press release | 25 August 2010 |
Plant Impact Syngenta Brazil Field Trials
Plant Impact plc (AIM: PIM) ("Plant Impact"), which develops and markets ecologically friendly crop nutrition and protection products, announces that it has commenced field trials with Syngenta Brazil ("Syngenta"). The field trials will focus on the use of Plant Impact's CaT and PiNT technologies with soybean, corn, cotton and coffee.
The field trials will be a significant programme, including resource commitments from Syngenta, a large number of farmers and support from Plant Impact, and these will initially focus on 4,000 hectares of soybean utilising Brazil's key soy producers. On the successful conclusion of these trials, the Company anticipates that, through Syngenta, the initial target market for Plant Impact's products will include Brazilian farmers with an aggregate total area of 3 million hectares of soybean, 1 million hectares of corn, 300 thousand hectares of cotton and 300 thousand hectares of coffee per year.
Brazilian farmers grew an aggregate of approximately 21 million hectares of soybean, 14 million hectares of corn, 2 million hectares of coffee bean and 1 million hectares of cotton in 2008. Therefore, the Company considers the Brazilian agricultural market to be a major opportunity for it.
The Company has now engaged with EMBRAPA, to provide official support for Plant Impact/Syngenta work in Brazil. EMBRAPA have shown interest in Plant Impact's technologies as a potential way of finding ecologically effective inputs for Brazilian agriculture. EMBRAPA will conduct official independent trials into important Brazilian crops and provide further support for the registration of Plant Impact's technologies.
With the Company expanding into the broad acre and arable crop markets, the board believes that working with influential partners is key. During 2010 the Company's field trial programme includes oil seed rape (canola), potatoes, soybeans, corn, cotton and wheat. The Company considers that this significantly expands its market potential.
Peter Blezard, CEO, commented: "This is an excellent development for the Company. Brazil is a very important agricultural country and for Plant Impact to have key partners in such a significant agricultural market is tremendous news. Plant Impact started developing commercial relationships with the Brazilian market last year and the field trials with Syngenta is evidence of the progress made to date".
Enquiries:
For further information, please contact:
| Plant Impact Plc |
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| Peter Blezard, Chief Executive Office Mike Panteli, Chief Financial Officer | +44 (0) 1772 645 164 +44 (0) 1772 645 165 |
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| Allenby Capital Limited - Nominated Adviser and Broker Nick Naylor / Alex Price |
+44 (0) 20 3328 5656 |
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| Conduit PR - Financial PR/IR Charlie Geller
| +44 (0) 20 7429 6604 |
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About Syngenta Brazil
Further information on Syngenta Brazil is available www.syngenta.com.
About EMBRAPA
The Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) (Brazilian Enterprise for Agricultural Research) is a state-owned company affiliated with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, which is devoted to pure and applied research on agriculture. EMBRAPA conducts research on many topics including animal agriculture and crops. Since its establishment in 1973, EMBRAPA has generated and recommended more than nine thousand technologies for Brazilian agriculture, reduced production costs and helped Brazil to increase the offer of food while, at the same time, conserving natural resources and the environment and diminishing external dependence on technologies, basic products and genetic materials.
EMBRAPA coordinates the National Agricultural Research System, which includes most public and private entities involved in agricultural research in Brazil.
Further details on EMBRAPA can be found at http://www.embrapa.br/english
About Plant Impact plc
Plant Impact develops and markets ecologically friendly crop nutrition and crop protection products. These products improve crop yields by reducing plant stresses caused by temperature, salinity, drought and light. The Company sells its products directly and through licensing agreements with international agrochemical companies. The Directors believe that Plant Impact is differentiated from its competitors by marketing effective and environmentally friendly products.
Plant Impact has four key technologies marketed initially to the high value fruit and vegetable crop sectors; Bug Oil, CaT, PiNT and Speedo. The next two years will be dominated by CaT and PiNT sales to existing markets, and BugOil milestone payments in advance of its international roll out through Arysta, a global top ten agrochemical company.
For further information please visit www.plantimpact.com