Lonza Crop Protection and the Swiss start-up company Authena are pioneering digital technology to improve product traceability and authenticity of crops. The technology will initially be piloted as a prototype in Brazil.
As much as 20% of all crop protection products used in Latin America is estimated to be counterfeit , for example. Even in Europe, with its stringent regulations, the counterfeit proportion is considered to be around 10% . That’s why a cooperation between Lonza Crop Protection and the Swiss start-up company Authena promises to have a profound impact. The two organizations have developed what will be one of the industry’s first digital, blockchain-based technologies that will not only provide proof of authenticity, but possibly full traceability and transparency across the entire value chain.
It involves interactive Near Field Communication (NFC) tags being attached directly to Lonza’s Celenco range of crop protection products. They will allow the user to verify where the product comes from, how to use it, whether it’s been tampered with, where it sits in the value chain, and when it expires. At the same time, the data it generates will give full reassurance that products don’t sit on shelves beyond their shelf-life. Such traceability will prevent wastage, optimize the use of resources and boost customer confidence.
If successful, it is planned that the technology will be developed to digitally connect individual farms directly with Lonza. By automating processes, this will improve speed of response and reliability still further, while boosting cost-effectiveness at the same time.
Rubik Sommerhalder, Global Head of Marketing at Lonza Crop Protection explains: “We have chosen Authena for this project because it impressed us with its innovation, technology, agility and speed. We see this as a possible first step towards a platform technology that will allow us to better serve our customers by providing enhanced security, information and value.”
For its part, Authena is delighted to be expanding a highly innovative technology solution into a new sector. The company has already shown conclusively that it can improve brand product security and product tracing in the wine industry. “We believe in a world free from counterfeiting,” says Matteo Panzavolta, CEO. “Our goal is to revolutionize how innovative producers protect their products, their reputation and most of all their users. So we’re proud to collaborate with Lonza, one of the most innovative global companies in crop protection.”
The technology being pioneered through the Lonza/Authena collaboration will initially be piloted as a prototype in Brazil. Counterfeiting here is a particularly dangerous and growing problem for the plant science industry, with knock-on negative effects for consumers and the environment. “We’re using a lean start-up approach to the program,” explains Flavio Belluomini Cotrin, Head of Crop Protection Latam. “We expect to add the NFC tags to our Celenco products by the end of this year. And once we have analyzed the results and made improvements as necessary, we would like to begin a phased roll-out during the first quarter of 2021.”
(Press release / SK)
Please login or sign up to comment.
Commenting guidelines