EMMERSON, a British company whose primary focus is on developing the Khemisset Potash project located in Northern Morocco, intends to start the construction of an enterprise for the extraction and processing of potassium salts within the framework of the project by the end of this year. Its capacity should be 735.000 tons of potassium chloride per year. “The global geopolitical crisis reflects on supply chains and the prices of food and fertilizers. The issue of food security has never been clearer, and potassium chloride plays a key role in it,” said James Kelly, Emmerson board member. Last year, about 40% of global potassium chloride production came from Russia and Belarus, which were forced to cut exports in 2022 due to Western sanctions, allowing new suppliers to take their place. The forecast resources of the Khemisset project are estimated at 311 million tons of potassium salts with an average potassium oxide content of 10.2%.
PHOSPHOLUTIONS, a US company that is a leader in sustainable fertilizer technology, has announced additional investment from agricultural companies to support commercialization of RhizoSorb® in the US row crop market. The recent funding includes investment from Ospraie Ag Sciences (OAS), Bunge Ventures, the for-profit, global investment arm of Bunge. Phosphorus is the second largest nutrient needed for food production worldwide, yet 90% is lost from mine to fork. RhizoSorb®, a fertilizer additive, has been proven to reduce phosphorus fertilizer applications by 50% without compromising yield. The product increases the efficiency of applied and native soil phosphorus by releasing nutrients based on a chemical gradient in the soil, leading to better availability throughout the season. RhizoSorb has been tested on row crops including corn, soybean, wheat, barley, sunflower, chickpea, rice, and turf-grass. “RhizoSorb® is proven to deliver the same amount of phosphorus to the plant with half the amount of applied fertilizer,” said Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Hunter Swisher.
VERDESIAN LIFE SCIENCES, a US-based nutrient use efficiency company that helps farmers maximize the utility of their nutrient investments for crop performance, received permission from the French government to market its NutriSphere-N, a drug designed to retain nitrogen from mineral fertilizers in the soil. The company also intends to register NutriSphere-N in Spain, Italy, Portugal and other countries. “The registration of NutriSphere-N is an important achievement not only for Verdesian Life Sciences but for farmers across Europe as well,” said Kenneth Avery, CEO of Verdesian Life Sciences. “Loss of nitrogen is an acute problem for farmers. Therefore, the opportunity for agricultural producers in France to have access to a product that retains nitrogen means higher yields and less negative impact on the environment.” Currently, NutriSphere-N is applied on over 29 million hectares of agricultural land worldwide. “This is a major regulatory achievement, one we do not take lightly,” Avery added. “We are grateful to have achieved this recognition in this region. We are also excited to see how this helps European farmers grow more with less.”
