UPL Ltd has announced a two-year agreement with the Soil Health Institute (SHI), a non-profit organisation whose mission is to safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soil through scientific research and advancement
With this collaboration, SHI will evaluate the soil health at selected UPL research and development field stations around the world (including UPL’s OpenAg farm in Brazil), provide soil health training for UPL field agronomists, and help establish R&D protocols for evaluating the impacts of management practices on soil health.
Soil is the basis of our world’s agro ecosystems that provide food, feed, fibre and fuel. By 2050, the world will be challenged to feed nine billion people while also managing limited natural resources and the impact of climate change. UPL, with its mission to make every food product more sustainable, collaborates with partners, farmers, and key stakeholders to meet the future demand of agriculture, and improving soil heath will be essential to achieving that goal.
Adrian Percy, chief technology officer, UPL, said, “Our collaboration with SHI is a step towards understanding our soil in a much deeper way to provide the right solutions for farmers to enhance soil health, a key element for sustainable agriculture. It exemplifies our belief in activating connections across the world’s agriculture system and powering new levels of sustainable growth, in line with our OpenAg purpose, an agriculture network that feeds sustainable growth for all. No limits, no borders.”
Dr Wayne Honeycutt, CEO of the Soil Health Institute, explained, “Our research and training programmes are focused to provide useful outcomes for farmers, the environment, and society. So far, most of our work has been in North America. This collaboration with UPL will allow us to further explore and translate soil health science into actionable management practices in other regions of the world, too.”
