October 16, 2024

By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media

Regenerative agriculture is growing like wildfire among green circles, spreading across borders. Middlefield, Ohio-based Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA), which helps growers to make data-based decisions, has reached a global partnership with Turkish precision-ag tech company Topraq to expand access to regenerative solutions. The collaboration is structured to include an investment from Topraq into AEA.

Topraq CEO Cem Ertal stated, “This partnership bridges a critical gap in agricultural data. Topraq’s investment in AEA highlights our dedication to innovation and our mission to provide farmers with cutting-edge agricultural solutions. At Topraq, we believe that understanding the data is key—‘if you can’t measure, you can’t manage.’ By combining AEA’s expertise with our technology, we’re empowering farmers to make informed decisions that boost crop performance, lower input costs and promote environmental sustainability. This is precision farming taken to the next level.”

Through the partnership, both companies expect to strengthen their offerings to better support growers of high-value crops — such as citrus, grapes and cotton — seeking to integrate regenerative practices. Together, they gain access to a more robust technology stack, including precision testing and plant nutrition products. As a result, they should be able to deliver greater access to regenerative ag solutions to growers in critical jurisdictions in the global food supply, including Southeast Europe as well as West and Central Asia, where Topraq has already established a foothold.

With the global population set to hit nearly 10 billion by 2050, according to The World Bank, there is a heightened need to improve ag productivity in a sustainable way. By that time, food demand is poised to rise by 70 percent. Juxtaposed with this is a sharp resource shortage in which the planet’s arable land is shrinking and 4 billion people are expected to face water scarcity by that critical year, as pointed out by Mitsui and Co’s Keizo Sugawara and Miyuki Uemura at the GAI Asia event this week in Tokyo. One of Topraq’s areas of specialization is in optimizing ag inputs like water.

In response, Mitsui’s team pointed out, there is also greater awareness of the environment, including a growing consciousness for environmental issues and rising demand for agri production with minimal environmental impact. Regenerative ag is looked to as a solution to strengthen ag supply chain resilience, owing to its nature to avoid an over reliance on ag inputs while mitigating the impact of climate change.

Earlier this year, AEA expanded its U.S. presence with the debut of a new manufacturing facility in Aurora, Colorado, boasting a capacity to serve over 20 million acres of farmland. This location helps the company to better serve its clients in the Pacific Northwest, West Coast, and Midwest region.

AEA CEO Eric Girdler said, “AEA and Topraq believe regenerative agriculture is the path forward to revolutionize global agriculture. By joining forces, we are expanding access to regenerative agriculture solutions to positively impact our food system and further a resilient future for generations to come.”

AEA Founder and Chief Vision Officer John Kempf, a true regenerative ag pioneer with roots as an Amish farmer, explained, “Regenerative agriculture will always be a mix of observation, intuition and technology. But at the same time, ‘test, not guess’ is AEA’s mantra. Precise testing that provides real-time data helps growers do their job better, thereby increasing yields and farm profits.”

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