December 19, 2023

photo credit: Terviva

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

California-based regenerative agriculture and food company Terviva announced it has entered into a partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) that included an investment in the business from Mitsubishi.

Terviva is working with local communities to harvest beans from the pongamia tree to produce protein-rich oil and meal.

Pongamia is a subtropical legume tree with unique qualities that make it particularly well suited to changing climates. It is an environmentally sustainable, no-till tree crop that adds nitrogen to the soil, stores carbon, and requires little, if any, fertilizer or pesticides. The crop supports biodiversity as native bees and other pollinators thrive on the tree’s flowers, and can potentially produce four times the amount of oil per acre compared to soybeans. 

As a plant-based protein, pongamia holds the potential to be a replacement for soy, offering multiple times the yield of soybeans and strong gelling and emulsification properties, producing an oil that is similar to high-oleic acid vegetable oils.

Terviva works with farmers to plant pongamia trees on idle former citrus land in Florida; on former sugarcane land in Hawaii; and in Australia and India on land that is often left fallow due to poor soil conditions or lack of water. Even on this marginal land, a pongamia orchard captures 115 metric tons of carbon per acre over 30 years, making it one of the most sustainable sources of edible oil and plant protein. 

Using natural, proprietary food processing methods, Terviva has created an equitable and transparent supply chain from which it harvests and processes pongamia beans into bioenergy and sustainable food ingredients under the brand name Ponova®.

The companies explained that the agreement between Terviva and MC is based on a shared goal for a decarbonized future. Through this partnership, the two companies will bring crude pongamia oil to the liquid fuels market as a first-of-its-kind biofuel feedstock. 

“MC is an influential partner that has the long-term vision to make a super-tree like pongamia truly scalable and impactful,” said Naveen Sikka, founder and CEO, Terviva. “With MC by our side, Terviva can focus on what we do best: creating elite cultivars to get higher yields and superior products from the pongamia tree, supporting local communities where the tree grows, and applying our patented processes to making the oils and meal into ultra-high quality biofuel feedstocks, animal feeds and ultimately food.”

Crude pongamia oil is a second-generation feedstock with a low carbon intensity score and a sustainable and transparent supply chain. It has the capacity to be easily converted into biodiesel, renewable diesel, or sustainable aviation fuel. The oil is ISCC Plus and EU Certified, and the wild harvest supply chain and crush production meet RED II and global sustainability criteria. 

Combined, these benchmarks make Terviva’s crude pongamia oil among the most sustainable feedstocks with a similar carbon intensity to used cooking oil, and together, Terviva and MC stated they will leverage their networks and expertise to advance this climate-resilient tree. 

“Addressing climate change and reducing GHG emissions with the aim of contributing to achieve a decarbonized circular society are our high-priority initiatives,” stated Mitsubishi Corporation. “The pongamia tree can be a transformational crop to realize a carbon-neutral and sustainable society.”

“With its strong intellectual property and existing operations, Terviva has exceptional potential to be a business that significantly benefits the environment and local communities who engage in the supply chain of pongamia. We are excited to collaborate with Terviva to establish a supply chain for next-generation fuels and grow together with local communities, while reducing its environmental footprint.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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