World Pulse Day was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to recognize the importance of pulses as a part of sustainable food production and bring attention to the pulse sector. In celebration we want to highlight these tiny but mighty crops that are intrinsically linked to what we do at Lucent BioSciences.
Why does Lucent Love Pulses?
Soileos is a plant based fertilizer made with a patented process that upcycles agriculture and food processing cellulose rich co-products, such as pulse hulls, into a high value, sustainable delivery agent for crop nutrients. By reframing pulse co-products into a resource we close the loop, creating more value and an avenue for growers to improve their ROI at the same time as lead the transformation of agriculture to sustainability.
Our business model is a truly circular economy model, where we work with food processing companies to convert their cellulose waste into a high value bioactive fertilizer or fertilizer ingredient which can be used as a bendable or standalone pellet as a formulant to existing soil amendment, fertilizer and seed coating companies, who bring it back to the farmer. Our intention is to develop solutions to mitigate the climate impact on global food security and human health.
Canada is a major producer and the world's largest exporter of pulses where 86% of Canadian pulses are currently being exported. The heart of Canadian pulse industry is Saskatchewan with around seven million acres that produce 70% of the country's crop.
Soileos and Canadian pulses have been a perfect fit. We have been working with AGT Foods to scale up our manufacturing, run field trials across Canada and the US and grow the agriculture technology sector in the province of Saskatchewan.
Pulses are healthy for people, healthy for animals, and healthy for the planet. They can be grown for both food which helps farmers maintain household food security and they can be sold which creates economic stability. Pulses like dried beans, lentils and peas are a high value crop for farmers. This is because pulses can make their own nitrogen, therefore the farmers input costs are low AND pulses improve soil conditions. Pulses are a climate smart crop that not only improve soil fertility but have low water needs which make them suitable for marginal growing environments and they are affordable.
