Kia ora from Callaghan Innovation,

Welcome to Global Signals, your regular update of new and interesting signals in the world of AgriFoodTech. 

This newsletter is designed to inform New Zealand agritech of the latest global sector developments, and spark new ideas. If you have any thoughts on the below articles, please do drop us a line on LinkedIn.

Kia pai te rā,
Melissa (Futurist) and Shane (Callaghan Innovation)

Phosphorus: An new use for sewerage

The Japanese city of Kobe is working towards demonstrating new technology that can extract and purify phosphorus from raw sewerage. This phosphorus will largely be used in Kobe as agricultural fertilizer.

Many New Zealand farms rely on phosphorus to help grow food, but the global supply chain has its challenges. 

If Kobe can extract phosphorus from sewerage, is there benefit to New Zealand doing this too? Could we also trial this technology to diversify and sure-up our phosphorus supply?

Battling against an unanswerable question?

We're looking to connect New Zealand agritech companies with experts from around the world to help answer questions you can’t seem to solve yourself. 

We are able to link you to an expert for a 60 minute call. To be considered for this service, all we ask is that you submit a short brief explaining what kind of help you’re after, and how this knowledge would benefit your business. This process will be completely confidential and has the potential to really move the dial for your business

Robots that are grown, not made

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois have, incredibly, managed to combine mouse tissue with a 3D printed structure and an LED control chip to ‘walk’ around without a connected power source. The LED chips use light to stimulate the mouse tissue which in turn contorts the structure enabling the biohybrid to ‘walk’.

Their biohybrid robot is incredibly small - but still represents a breakthrough in this relatively young field that combines organic tissue with mechanical technology.

If biohybrid robots pick up in popularity, could we see biohybrid food production on the agenda? For example, could we use biohybrid cows to produce milk?

Can plants grow in space?

NASA is launching a new programme to see how plants might adapt to the outer-space environment, and whether any adaptations will be passed down to the next generation of seedlings.

They’ll take a variety of seeds - from leafy greens to algae - up onto their space station to propagate, and will then send them back down to Earth to cross-breed with Earth-based plants. Interestingly, they’re taking not just edible plants, but ones that have applications like air or water purification.

For those without access to space, how might these findings influence how we breed plants here? How might we cross-breed crops and other useful plants to create more resilience in the face of climate change?

Data opens new doors for agritech

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has recently launched Mineral - a new agritech business that wants to bundle up AI, information systems and robotics for the world’s farms.

They believe a lack of quality data has held back the agritech sector for years, and that their unique, wraparound systems could help farmers make better decisions about what to do with their land, particularly in this era when landowners are making swift changes to combat climate change. 

What’s really interesting here is the muscle behind Mineral, and how their services could one day become very useful to governments. Could we see integrated data providers work alongside both farmers and policy-makers to give us a holistic view of how our farmland is really working? And what will the implications of that be?

Tell us what you think about this signal on LinkedIn ►

Gene-editing field heating up

Two gene-editing companies, Calyxt and Cibus, are planning a merger this year to become Cibus Inc. Both companies have reported financial issues in the past five years, with Calyxt becoming close to being delisted on the NASDAQ last year.

The new Cibus Inc. will continue the companies’ work on two applications for agricultural gene-editing: productivity traits in seeds and low-carbon ingredients that can replace fossil fuels.

To me, this otherwise slightly dry piece of financial news is indicative of the rise of gene-editing. The field is a hot topic overseas, and it will be interesting to see how gene-editing might find a toehold in New Zealand. Despite our nation’s traditional resistance to GMO, could we see a staggered approach to gene-editing here - starting in crop feed?

Book Review

Water Always Wins by Erica Giles

I have been working with Auckland City Council to facilitate discussions with communities about shaping a vision to deal with ‘too much water’ for Auckland, which unfortunately we saw play out very recently.

This book introduces the concept of ‘slow water': allowing water to behave naturally while planning for absorption of flood water, storage of water for droughts, and sustaining natural watercourses. 

It is an interesting challenge to consider "what water wants" as

we plan soil management, land use, watershed planning and future water management systems. A useful (and timely) book for farmers, hydrologists, and planners.

Thanks for reading this month's Global Signals!

We’d love to hear your feedback so we can continue to share relevant monthly reads with you.

Don’t forget to share with us any signals or interesting innovations you’ve come across so we can spread the word. We enjoy seeing NZ companies be creative, innovative and push the boundaries, it makes for insightful reading.