Source: PRATIAN LLC submitted to
NCPB ARE COST-EFFECTIVE, SELF-CONTAINED, HYDRATION AND NUTRIENT BEAD CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING THE GROWTH OF AN INDIVIDUAL PLANT TARGETED PRIMARILY FOR INARABLE CLIMATES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1019438
Grant No.
2019-33610-29768
Cumulative Award Amt.
$100,000.00
Proposal No.
2019-00532
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jul 1, 2019
Project End Date
Mar 29, 2020
Grant Year
2019
Program Code
[8.4]- Air, Water and Soils
Recipient Organization
PRATIAN LLC
A12 VILLA JAUCA
SANTA ISABEL,PR 007572703
Performing Department
Life Support Systems
Non Technical Summary
TheNUTRIENT-CONTAINING POROUS BIODEGRADABLE BEAD (NCPB) are biodegradables beads made from natural ingredients that release water and nutrients for smart crop irrigation. The goal if this project is tomitigate the losses in water management for plant irrigation while increasing growth performance and sustainable use of natural resources.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
10202102000100%
Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
0210 - Water resources;

Field Of Science
2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
The main goal of this technologyis to validate and test our technology called NUTRIENT-CONTAINING POROUS BIODEGRADABLE BEAD (NCPB) (i.e. a cost-effective, self-contained, hydration and nutrient bead capable of supporting the growth of an individual plant) targeted primarily for inarable climates. Target experiments are 1) to determine volumerelease and rate of degradation of NCPB and 2) Characterize Rate and performance ofplant growth.
Project Methods
Characterizing the NCPB for extreme environments involves multiple controlled experiments to determine optimal bead formula. These experiments will test (1) rate of water and nutrient release from beads; (2) disintegration time; (3) response to varied humidity and temperature environments, independently varied; and (4) plant growth rate and quality. The material used for the proposed experiment will be conducted in a lab with automated imaging units, environmental chambers with temperature and humidity control and monitoring, scales, mesh-based glassware to hold NCPB monolayers and glass basins for liquid collection.

Progress 07/01/19 to 03/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:PRatian LLC established a relationship withminority-serving institutions such as the Inter American University of Puerto Rico - San Germán and the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, Campus for NCPB bead optimization and plant characterization. Through this grant, salaries for university staff as well as indirect and direct costs werecovered. During this funding opportunity, our staff also collaborated with greenhouse farmers in our research activities. Changes/Problems:We planned to apply this product in open farming but with the limited budget and natural disasters happening in Puerto Rico, it was impossible to characterize the soil environment and plant growth. We redirected our research to the in-doorhorticultural market and soil remediation. Our teamfound new interests in this product (i.e. crop vegetable growth, transportation of flowers, pH soil remediation)while satisfying NIFA goals forthe conservation of natural resources. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this funding opportunity,three professors were hired from the University of Puerto Rico and the Inter-American University of San German, Puerto Rico. Each professor employed 3 postdocs and several graduate students. We trained these students to conduct experiments with biodegradable polymers and plant growth characterization. Students also received coaching from their research advisors and learned how to work characterization instruments (i.e. HPLC, mass spectrometers, etc). PRatian founder also trained a student from the University of Mayaguez in manufacturing design, fabrication, testing,and optimization. Within PRatian LLC, we had a chemical engineer and lawyer shaping our commercialization strategy and business development as well. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have various market segments where our product is of interest. BTC: PRatian LLC has an e-commerce platform already. We are selling the first version of our product to home gardeners that are interested in eco-friendly practices of plant growth. BTB Horticulture market: Our team determined that we could save up to 30% of irrigation cost when growing crop vegetables in greenhouses. We ran several pilot studies to validate our results. Our scientists also discovered that our product help with pH soil remediation when collecting data to validate our hypothesis. BTB Plant transportation: Our team can significantly reduce the cost of irrigation/transportation of cut-flower arriving in the U.S. Potential clients have contacted us already for partnerships. To further increase our traction, several marketing strategies are being implemented: • Non-Profit Organizations: We have a partnership with three nonprofit organizations (Guayacan Group, Para la Naturaleza and Banco Popular Foundation). These entities are buying our product for reforestation campaigns in Puerto Rico, as well as introducing emerging agricultural technologies in communities to encourage in-house farming. We are currently in discussion with other international organizations to expand globally (i.e. Groundswell International, Splash and the Massachusetts Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA)) • Education: Our team has promoted AgroBeads® in the Department of Education in Puerto Rico and aims to do the same with the Boston Public School officials to increase awareness of this technology in agricultural and science courses. • Social Media: We now have 2,000 followers on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Most of our revenues come from this segment, and we plan to increase our number of followers to 5,000 this year. • Pilot Studies: We are conducting pilot studies in the U.S. and Puerto Rico to acquire customer validation and increase B2B traction. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During our USDA SBIR Phase I, we tackled various technical key objectives. Our team conducted various experiments to determine the optimal ratio of ingredients for the NCPB depending on the needs of the plant and the sustainability of the NCPB in controlled environments. We also characterized the response to varied humidity and temperate of water and nutrient release and uniformity of the NCPB. Several experiments were conducted to understand the response to various ranges of humidity and temperature. Manufacturing for NCPB production was developed and scaled up for medium size production (10,000 packages per month). Finally, plant growth experiments were conducted to measure the rate and quality in comparison to control. We found that theNCPB has better performance in growing crops vegetables and soil remediation than alternative products.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2020 Citation: Garcia et al. Puerto Rico Science and Trust SBIR Conference. Nutrient Containing Porous Biodegradable Bead (NCPB), October 14th, 2019.


Progress 07/01/19 to 03/29/20

Outputs
Target Audience:PRatian LLC established a relationship withminority-serving institutions such as the Inter American University of Puerto Rico - San Germán and the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, Campus for NCPB bead optimization and plant characterization. Through this grant, salaries for university staff as well as indirect and direct costs werecovered. During this funding opportunity, our staff also collaborated with greenhouse farmers in our research activities. Changes/Problems:We planned to apply this product in open farming but with the limited budget and natural disasters happening in Puerto Rico, it was impossible to characterize the soil environment and plant growth. We redirected our research to the in-doorhorticultural market and soil remediation. Our teamfound new interests in this product (i.e. crop vegetable growth, transportation of flowers, pH soil remediation)while satisfying NIFA goals forthe conservation of natural resources. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this funding opportunity,three professors were hired from the University of Puerto Rico and the Inter-American University of San German, Puerto Rico. Each professor employed 3 postdocs and several graduate students. We trained these students to conduct experiments with biodegradable polymers and plant growth characterization. Students also received coaching from their research advisors and learned how to work characterization instruments (i.e. HPLC, mass spectrometers, etc). PRatian founder also trained a student from the University of Mayaguez in manufacturing design, fabrication, testing,and optimization. Within PRatian LLC, we had a chemical engineer and lawyer shaping our commercialization strategy and business development as well. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have various market segments where our product is of interest. BTC: PRatian LLC has an e-commerce platform already. We are selling the first version of our product to home gardeners that are interested in eco-friendly practices of plant growth. BTB Horticulture market: Our team determined that we could save up to 30% of irrigation cost when growing crop vegetables in greenhouses. We ran several pilot studies to validate our results. Our scientists also discovered that our product help with pH soil remediation when collecting data to validate our hypothesis. BTB Plant transportation: Our team can significantly reduce the cost of irrigation/transportation of cut-flower arriving in the U.S. Potential clients have contacted us already for partnerships. To further increase our traction, several marketing strategies are being implemented: • Non-Profit Organizations: We have a partnership with three nonprofit organizations (Guayacan Group, Para la Naturaleza and Banco Popular Foundation). These entities are buying our product for reforestation campaigns in Puerto Rico, as well as introducing emerging agricultural technologies in communities to encourage in-house farming. We are currently in discussion with other international organizations to expand globally (i.e. Groundswell International, Splash and the Massachusetts Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA)) • Education: Our team has promoted AgroBeads® in the Department of Education in Puerto Rico and aims to do the same with the Boston Public School officials to increase awareness of this technology in agricultural and science courses. • Social Media: We now have 2,000 followers on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Most of our revenues come from this segment, and we plan to increase our number of followers to 5,000 this year. • Pilot Studies: We are conducting pilot studies in the U.S. and Puerto Rico to acquire customer validation and increase B2B traction. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During our USDA SBIR Phase I, we tackled various technical key objectives. Our team conducted various experiments to determine the optimal ratio of ingredients for the NCPB depending on the needs of the plant and the sustainability of the NCPB in controlled environments. We also characterized the response to varied humidity and temperate of water and nutrient release and uniformity of the NCPB. Several experiments were conducted to understand the response to various ranges of humidity and temperature. Manufacturing for NCPB production was developed and scaled up for medium size production (10,000 packages per month). Finally, plant growth experiments were conducted to measure the rate and quality in comparison to control. We found that theNCPB has better performance in growing crops vegetables and soil remediation than alternative products.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2020 Citation: Garcia et al. Puerto Rico Science and Trust SBIR Conference. Nutrient Containing Porous Biodegradable Bead (NCPB), October 14th, 2019.