Trees can be grown three times faster thanks to the biotech.
Phytelligence, a biotech spun out of Washington State University, has developed technology that makes plants and trees grow up to three times faster, all while conserving water and cutting down the need for pesticides.
The company has recently shipped its first order of 1,000 raspberry plants to Washington-based Northwest Plant Company, and will deliver another 50,000 to them in August. The technology can produce up to 250,000 plants from one single plant within a year. This constitutes a huge increase on what had been possible up until now, as current techniques can only produce ten.
Phytelligence’s propagation works by putting plant tissue in sterile jars. These jars contain a proprietary growing medium that is made from an algae-based gelatinous substance called agar. Once a growth cycle reaches its end, the plants are split into new jars with a mix of nutrients customised for that stage. The technique is highly resource-efficient, and saves more than 300 liters per tree compared to soil-grown trees. They also require no pesticides, fungicides or insecticides.
Set up in 2012, the company currently employs three staff full-time and another six part-time, while offering internships to Washington State students. A total 70% of its funding has been invested by plant growers and nurseries.
Amit Dhingra, co-founder of Phytelligence and associate professor at the university’s department of horticulture, said: “It can take 15 to 20 years to develop a new plant variety and then another 10 to 15 to deploy it on a large scale. A process that normally takes five to seven years, we can do in two. Every year sooner that growers get trees means a faster return on their investments.”
