Forterra secures licence to market new soil blends
Forterra Environmental Corp (C:FTE)
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Wednesday June 02 2010 - News Release
An anonymous director reports
FORTERRA ENVIRONMENTAL GRANTED EXCLUSIVE LICENSE BY UNIVERSITYOF GUELPH TO MARKET NEW SOIL BLENDS
Forterra Environmental Corp. confirms that the University ofGuelph has granted the company an exclusive licence to market certain soilblends scientifically developed by the university's researchers.
Forterra has been a contributor to the development of theblends that are the result of a three-year research and development project.Under the five-year licence, which has a roll-over provision for renewals,Forterra will pay a sales royalty to the university.
"The development of these high-end soil blends is great news,particularly for greenhouse organic vegetable growers as well as for homegardeners who can use these blends to improve their growing success forvegetables and other plants," reported Youbin Zheng, Ph.D. and a researcher andadjunct professor at the School of Environmental Sciences at the university. "Inparticular, the development of these new soil blends meets the needs ofgreenhouse growers who are challenged to obtain consistently high-qualityorganic growing substrates.
"At the University of Guelph," Dr. Zheng continued, "we mixedand tested 35 organic growing substrates. Two of the growing substrates producedhigher marketable beef steak tomatoes than the other organic growing substratesand rockwool. Both of the successful substrates used Forterra worm castings.Such vermicastings are proven to contain beneficial microbes that can suppresssome plant pathogens and therefore reduce the need for pesticideapplication."
Forterra plans to sublicense its agreement with the Universityof Guelph to a third party that has an established significant penetration intothe greenhouse and nursery sectors. The company has received inquiries fromvarious potential partners who are well-entrenched in these sectors and who arewell-suited to manufacture the scientific recipe for sales into the market.
The development of the new soil blends is the most recentresult of the excellent relationship that Forterra has had for several yearswith the University of Guelph agricultural research experts. Forterra hasprovided funding for research, testing, and validation projects, and currentlyis discussing future projects that would involve further scientificinvestigation into soil mixes and other solutions using the company's wormcastings as the base or as a carrier.
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