Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/19
Outputs Target Audience:AAT's (now dba PowerPollen) primary audience are U.S. corn seed companies. We have had contact regarding our technology with almost every major seed company, including those with international operations. Actual results have been reported to 11 companies, mostly under confidentiality agreements. Significant interest has been expressed and we had 6 customers in the summer of 2019, all of which are interested in continuing to access our technology into 2020. Changes/Problems:There have been no major changes to the work-plan and objectives. There have been minor changes, such as altering the "packet" size for pollen scaling. For example, we anticipated 100ml packets of pollen for preservation, but we actually preserved ~500 ml packets of pollen in our final protocol in the summer 2018 demonstrations and 2019 commercial applications. Another example is that we learned more about optimal timing of pollen applications to ensure success, which necessitated modifications to our scheduling and logistics. Other similar modification were enacted, but the major course of the project was as dictated in the proposal. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This work has provided tremendous training to both our own employees and also the employees of our customers in protocols for scaled pollen preservation and handling in corn seed production. This is something that has never been accomplished in nearly 100 years of corn hybrid seed production. The ultimate goal is to transfer the tech to the seed companies and earn revenue via technology licensing and royalties. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Reports have been communicated in person via persentations and discussions to our 6 customers from 2019, as well as 5 other customers that have an interest in adopting the technology in the future. In addition, we have presented both a paper and poster at the 2019 Crop Science Society of America meetings last November. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?There are no future reporting periods. This concludes the project under this SBIR grant.
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
We have accomplished both objectives for Phase II: 1. We have scaled and proven cost-effective pollen preservation methods that are applicable for commercial maize seed production fields of 10 acres or larger. We applied the method to 22 commercial fields that were larger than 30 acres, in which we applied our technology to a minimum of 20 acres. This was done across 6 major seed company customers. 2. We applied our scaled up technology to at least 15 different male/female inbred combinations, in standard corn seed production scenarios, in which the male inbreds varied in male quality characteristics. The results from this work showed that on average we increased seed yield by 10%. However, when we were able to apply preserved pollen at the optimal time, which is later during the seed resproductive (pollination) phase, we increase yield by more than 20%. In addition, we improved seed quality, as measured by decreased genetic contamination, in more than 60% of the commercial fields where we measured quality. Using supplement preserved pollen applications to realize these accomplishments has never been done in nearly 100 years of corn hybrid seed production. As a result our customers are interested in ramping up their utilization of this technolgy and we are discussing terms for a commercial agreement with two companies.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
www.powerpollen.com
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Westgate, M., T. Krone, G. Singletary, S. Etter. 2019. Developing novel pollen preservation systems for recalcitrant pollen species to improve seed yield and seed quality. ASA, CSSA and SSSA Annual Meeting, Nov. 8-12, San Antonio, TX. (Invited Symposium Presentation)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Westgate, M, T. Krone, J. Cope. 2019. PowerPollen -- a Novel Pollen Preservation System to Improve Yield and Genetic Purity in Hybrid Maize Seed Production. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meeting, Nov 8-12, San Antonio, TX. (Poster Presentation)
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs Target Audience:AAT's (now dba PowerPollen) primary audience are U.S. corn seed companies. We have had contact regarding our technology with almost every major seed company, including those with international operations. Actual results have been reported to 11 companies, mostly under confidentiality agreements. Significant interest has been expressed and we had 6 customers in the summer of 2019, all of which are interested in continuing to access our technology. Changes/Problems:There have been no major changes to the work-plan and objectives. There have been minor changes, such as altering the "packet" size for pollen scaling. For example, we anticipated 100ml packets of pollen for preservation, but we actually preserved 500 ml packets of pollen in our final protocol in the summer 2018 demonstrations. Another example is that we learned more about optimal timing of pollen applications to ensure success, which necessitated modifications to our scheduling and logistics. Other similar modification were enacted, but the major course of the project was as dictated in the proposal. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This work has provided tremendous training to both our own employees and also the employees of our customers in protocols for scaled pollen preservation and handling. The ultimate goal is to transfer the tech to the seed companies and earn revenue via technology licensing and royalties. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Reports have been communicated in person via persentations and discussions to our 6 customers from 2019, as well as 5 other customers that have an interest in adopting the technology in the future. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the last reporting period.
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
We have accomplished both objectives for Phase II: 1. We have scaled and proven cost-effective pollen preservation methods that are applicable for maize seed production fields of 10 acres or larger. We applied the method to 22 commercial fields that were larger than 30 acres, in which we applied our technology to a minimum of 20 acres. This was done across 6 major seed company customers. 2. We applied our scaled up technology to at least 15 different male/female inbred combinations, in standard corn seed production scenarios, in which the male inbreds varied in male quality characteristics. The results from this work showed that on average we increased seed yield by 10%. However, when we were able to apply preserved pollen at the optimal time, which is later during the seed resproductive (pollination) phase, we increase yield by more than 20%. In addition, we improved seed quality, as measured by decreased genetic contamination, in more than 60% of the commercial fields where we measured quality. As a result our customers are interested in ramping up their utilization of this technolgy.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Westgate, M, T. Krone, J. Cope. 2019. PowerPollen -- a Novel Pollen Preservation System to Improve Yield and Genetic Purity in Hybrid Maize Seed Production. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meeting, Nov 8-12, San Antonio, TX. (Poster Presentation)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Westgate, M., T. Krone, G. Singletary, S. Etter. 2019. Developing novel pollen preservation systems for recalcitrant pollen species to improve seed yield and seed quality. ASA, CSSA and SSSA Annual Meeting, Nov. 8-12, San Antonio, TX. (Invited Symposium Presentation)
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs Target Audience:AAT's primary audience are U.S. corn seed companies. We have had contact regarding our technology with almost every major seed company, including those with international operations. Actual results have been reported to 5 companies under confidentiality agreements. Significant interest has been expressed and we had 3 pilot customers this summer to get a first look at the technology. Changes/Problems:There have been no major changes to the work-plan and objectives. There have been minor changes, such as altering the "packet" size for pollen scaling. For example, we anticipated 100ml packets of pollen for preservation, but we actually preserved 500 ml packets of pollen in our final protocol in the summer 2018 demonstrations. Other similar modification were enacted, but the major course of the project is as dictated in the proposal. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This work has provided tremendous training to both our own employees and also the employees of our customers in protocols for scaled pollen preservation and handling. The ultimate goal is to transfer the tech to the seed companies and earn revenue via technology licensing. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Reports have been communicated in person via ppt persentations to our pilot customers as well as potential new customers for 2019. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Based on 2018 results, we have identified two major technical barriers to reaching the true potential of our technology, which will be our focus over the next reporting period. We will use a similar model with pilot customers in 2019 to ultimately lead to full commercialization in 2020. 1. Improving the targeting of the pollen to the female (silks) 2. Improving the health of the preserved pollen in scaled up protocols compared to small scale protocols. In addition there are several other straight-forward improvements to improve the cost-effectiveness of our technology. These will also be a focus, but will consume a minor portion of the budget.
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
We have made progress on both objectors for Phase II: 1. We have scaled and proven cost-effective pollen preservation methods that are applicable for maize seed production fields of 10 acres or larger. We applied the method to several fields in excess of 100 acres. This was done with our three pilot customers. 2. We applied our scaled up products to about 15 different seed production scenarios, involving at least 10 different commercial inbreds varying in male quality characteristics.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
www.powerpollen.com
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