Thursday 24 April 2008

Technology License to the African Agricultural Technology Foundation to Develop Nitrogen Efficient and Salt Tolerant African Rice

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc., an agricultural technology company focused on products that benefit the environment and human health, and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), a not-for-profit organization focused on the access and delivery of new agricultural technologies for African smallholder farmers, have entered into a licensing agreement for the use of Arcadia’s technologies to develop rice varieties that will be available royalty-free to smallholder farmers in Africa.

Under the agreement, AATF receives a license to Arcadia’s Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) and Salt Tolerance technologies for use in African rice. As part of Arcadia’s stated commitment to agricultural and environmental improvement in the developing world, the company will not receive monetary compensation for the research and commercial rights granted in the agreement. In addition, Arcadia will complete the early-stage research and development work for the project and will provide improved rice lines to African research collaborators for field-testing.
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) is an African-led charity designed to facilitate and promote public/private partnerships for the access and delivery of appropriate proprietary technologies with potential to increase the productivity of resource-poor smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Reference:
Press Release AAFT 24/04