Montreal, Quebec, Canada
November 25, 2014
Internationally recognized McGill University plant scientist Donald L. Smith will head the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of Inocucor Technologies, Inc , the Montreal-based ag biotech company that develops biological soil, seed and plant accelerators.
"Dr. Smith and his colleagues at McGill have been testing Inocucor's biological products and processes for agriculture since 2012," said Inocucor President and CEO, Donald R. Marvin. "His understanding of the potential impact of our technology in the agricultural market makes him the perfect choice to lead our advisory board."
As head of Inocucor's SAB, Smith will help assemble plant scientists, agronomists and agriculture industry leaders to advise Inocucor's scientific team as it continues to commercialize the company's technology for mainstream production agriculture.
Inocucor uses fermentation akin to winemaking to isolate and combine mixed communities of compatible microbes, including yeasts and bacteria. Inocucor's first product, Inocucor Garden Solution®, interacts with the indigenous ecology—the phyto-microbiome—to act as a natural growth optimizer by improving both plant and soil quality. It may also help plants survive stress from extreme weather conditions.
Smith and his McGill team have conducted two years of corn and soybean studies with Inocucor Garden Solution and a second-generation cell-free product for bio-stimulation. Complete study results can be found at www.inocucor.com/science/field-studies
A James McGill Professor in McGill University's Department of Plant Science, Smith is a leading expert in the field of plant-microbe interactions. He is scientific director and CEO of BioFuelNet Canada, funded by the Networks of Centres of Excellence and the network’s partners at $12 million per year. He also led the NSERC-funded ($1.2 million per year) Green Crop Network on crops and climate change, including work on biofuels.
During his 30 years at McGill, Smith's research activity has resulted in over 300 publications, nine patents issued and a spin-off company, Bios Agriculture Inc. He also has been principal investigator on research grants totaling over $45 million, and has been a co-applicant on approximately $12.5 million in other funds. He has international collaborations with India, China, Brazil, the U.S., the E.U. and Africa.
In addition to his SAB work with Inocucor, Smith will lead Inocucor's recently signed research and licensing agreement with McGill University to co-produce a new class of sustainable bio-stimulant products for large-scale agriculture that have the potential to increase crop yields by at least 10 to 15 percent.
Inocucor Technologies, Inc. is an ag biotech company that develops sustainable biological products for agriculture targeting the phyto-microbiome—the seeds, plants, root systems and the soil surrounding them. Inocucor's first-generation product, Inocucor Garden Solution®, employs live microbes to actively improve the health of the entire phyto-microbiome. Future generations of Inocucor products are powerful cell-free biological solutions for bio-stimulation and bio-protection in mainstream production agriculture.
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