Could Agtech Play A Key Role In National Security? Enter AgriFORCE.

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The security of a state is one of its most essential functions. The government is tasked with keeping its residents safe and protected from all manner of threats. More often than not, this is associated with the armed forces or various law enforcement agencies. 

But as critical as these organizations are, the safety and security of the nation’s food supply are perhaps as critical to the safety of its population. 

After the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world and, more recently, the invasion of Ukraine, the precarious nature of the global and national food supply was put on full display. Disruptions in production and distribution led to shortages of food throughout the world and at home. This has been felt heavily by many Americans as their weekly grocery bills have ballooned. As a result, in recent weeks and months, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been placing increased emphasis on how to effectively bolster the nation’s food security.

Some climate models show almost a third of current global farmland being unusable by the end of the century, a terrifying possibility with dire security consequences around the globe and here at home. Today, 283 million people are food insecure and 45 million are on the edge of famine. Food insecurity across the world is a major destabilizing force. As Catherine Bertini, former director of the UN’s World Food Program states, “We can only imagine how much more devastating this is going to get. The risk we’re facing is unprecedented.”

This has led the USDA to think outside the box. How can the U.S. ensure food security for all its people, avoid future food shortages, and bring food prices back from the extremes seen today?

The answer may be twofold: utilizing advanced technology and localizing production.

The reliance on a global supply means the U.S. depends on other countries for its security. This was demonstrated clearly by the war in Ukraine. The country is one of the largest food exporters in the world, and the U.S. previously relied heavily on Russia for fertilizer. If the U.S. can boost its own production of food and the inputs required to grow it, the country has less at stake when events transpire outside its borders.

AgriForce Growing Systems Ltd. AGRI is a company that reports helping to develop technology that is meant to help U.S. producers do just that. The company says it is looking to reimagine, from the ground up, how America's food systems work. The legacy systems in place are rife with vulnerabilities and points of failure, making its transformation an issue of national security, according to the company.

One of the company’s innovations helps protect crops from mold and other contaminants, a major threat to food production. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates up to 25% of the world's crops are affected by mold and while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 6 Americans gets sick from food-borne bacteria every year. AgriFORCE recently entered a licensing agreement with a company that has developed an innovative way to sterilize growing surfaces, keep greenhouses free of harmful compounds, and radically combat food contamination.

This solution, known as Radical Clean Solutions (RCS), harnesses the power of hydroxyl radicals, molecules that already keep the earth’s atmosphere free of many harmful compounds. They attack all manner of organic compounds, like mold, that are harmful to plant growth but do not contaminate the plants themselves. AgriForce’s RCS allows for efficient and human-safe management of growing environments.

These are also planned to be incorporated into AgriForce’s GrowHouses. These GrowHouses are purpose-built facilities that utilize several of AgriForce’s advanced technologies to create bountiful, hydroponic growing environments that can be built anywhere in the world. Furthermore, they do not rely on pesticides or toxic fertilizers to operate.

AgriForce is not the only player in the sector. Competitors like AgJunction Inc. AJXGF and Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. BEVVF abound, but AgriFORCE believes it has an edge through its unconventional thinking and proven track record. If you want to learn more, check out https://profiles.smallcapsdaily.com/agri/. 

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Featured photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash