DryGro: Efficient Growth of Crops in Arid Environments (DEGCAE)

Project Information

DEGCAE

Grant agreement ID: 816553

DOI

10.3030/816553

Project closed

EC signature date 12 May 2018

Start date 1 June 2018

End date 30 November 2018

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

CO2I LTD
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DEGCAE (DryGro: Efficient Growth of Crops in Arid Environments (DEGCAE))

Reporting period: 2018-06-01 to 2018-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

"USDA estimates that the demand for soy, the main protein ingredient in animal feed, will increase from 351 million tonnes in 2017 to 550 million tonnes in 2050. This increased demand can be linked to two major macroeconomic trends: population growth and increased meat/dairy consumption in developed and emerging economies. This massive increase in demand puts incredible pressure on food systems: 23 million hectares of new soy land will be required by 2025. This grows to 50 million hectares of new land by 2050.

This land pressure will soon become a crisis. We cannot match 2025 demand levels without massive clear-cutting of rain-forest in Brazil to provide additional soy land. By 2050, there is no clear way to meet demand. It is critical that we develop animal feed protein alternatives to soy that can open up new land for production to fill this market demand without making rain-forest clear-cut a necessity.

The objective of this project was to explore the use of a new technology developed by UK firm ""DryGro"" that has the potential to solve this animal feed protein gap. DryGro that has developed a new way to efficiently grow a local, low-cost animal feed protein ingredient called lemna, using 99% less water than conventional agriculture. Using DryGro technology, this crop could potentially be grown on otherwise arid land at industrial scale. This ingredient has the potential to replace soy in animal feed markets around the globe, undercutting the soy market value chain and easing pressure on rainforest clearcut.

This project was to designed to explore this market fit further, examining the feasibility of the use of this technology to solve this critical market gap.
"

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

This project included a number of objectives, including:

1) An economic feasibility assessment, where we explored a) total potential market size, b) target customers, c) global animal feed market analysis d) competition analysis.

2) Unit economics analysis, exploring the significant cost drivers of production amongst three target countries.

3) Regulatory assessment amongst three target countries.

4) Technological feasibility assessment, including technological, commercial and regulatory risks.

5) Commercial and exploitation planning, including strategic planning for commercial development, technical development, IP strategy, and stageholder engagement through 2022.

The results of this assessment are very encouraging, and indicate that this project appears economically and technically viable. The project should be moved forward for further development and implementation.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

This project built upon previous lab and field work done to validate our technology, in order to more deeply explore the market exploitation potential of this technology at scale. Through this project we have validated that DryGro technology is potentially feasible, and would have very significant impact on food security, climate change resilience, and economic development in countries that currently import soy. Implemented at scale, this is also a viable way to curb Brazilian deforestation using macroeconomic market forces.

We aim to validate this further through an application to Horizon 2020 Phase 2, allowing expansion of the technology to industrial scale.

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