A Nova Scotia company that has become a global leader in the development and export of seaweed, is celebrating another milestone this week with the opening of a research facility in the United Kingdom.
At its Formulation Centre of Excellence in Malvern, U.K., Acadian Plant Health™ will create new formulations of seaweed extract, to enable the agriculture industry to move away from ‘hard chemistry’ products like pesticides and fertilizers, to a biostimulant made from plants from the ocean.
James Maude, senior vice president with Acadia, told SaltWire the shift to biostimulants is ramping up as chemical-based products to weed and feed plants are becoming more heavily regulated, and even outlawed, in many countries.
More and more, he added, consumers don’t want pesticides or other synthetic chemicals used on their foods.
That leaves crop producers with fewer tools to ensure healthy, productive fields, and a need for other options for plant growth and health.
“The big crop producing companies need the next wave of (plant) stimulants and Acadian has the potential to be the catalyst to help this transition,” said Maude.
Acadian Sea Plants, the parent company of Acadia Plant Health, already has a Centre of Excellence in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, as well as production facilities in Yarmouth and seaweed harvesting operations at Pubnico.
Launched more than 40 years ago, Acadian's dry seaweed concentrated extracts, are already used on over 70 crops in more than 80 countries world-wide.
At Malvern, Maude said, the company will take the process another step forward.
Productivity throughout climate change
“We’re taking it to the formulation level, where you start to focus the properties on a specific need.”
Among the things they’re aiming to do is develop a seed treatment that can help plants build resistance against stressors like drought, frost and disease—the things that can kill crops, and farm income.
Climate change is also driving the need, said Maude.
“We know that crops worldwide are starting to get much more challenged from Climate Change. A crop will shut down and stop growing through a drought, for example,” he said.
That’s one area the company will be focused on as they develop formulations.
“We’re building a whole portfolio of products that will help the agriculture industry maintain productivity through climate change challenges.”
But why go to the U.K. to create the formulation?
Maude said it’s simply because the talent pool in the formulation industry is quite rare in the world and most of it is located in the U.K.
“So, we’ve positioned our (new) lab close to the skills and the capability that we need.”
He added the formulations will come back to Nova Scotia, where the company will continue to harvest seaweed and manufacture final products.