A new $19 million project by Protein Industries Canada (PIC), Regina, and a consortium of companies will commercialize Soileos, a new micronutrient fertilizer. The project includes the installation of a new manufacturing process for the production of Soileos in Rosetown, Sask., that will produce up to approximately 6,500 mt/y of micronutrient fertilizer and create 25 jobs.
The parties said the fertilizer is sustainable, non-polluting, and climate-positive, and is created from the upcycling of pea, lentil, and oat hulls – co-products from food processing. Initial field trials on broad-acre crops such as durum, lentils, and peas demonstrated how Soileos transports zinc, manganese, and iron to plants – leading to improved protein content, yields, and soil health, while increasing returns for farmers, minimizing environmental impacts, and bringing value to low-value byproducts.
This new 50-50 joint venture is between AGT Foods, Regina, and Lucent BioSciences, Coquitlam, B.C., and will operate as AGT Soileos. Burnaby, B.C.-based NuWave Research Inc.’s technology will help reduce the reaction time and energy use in making Soileos, while IN10T, Chesterfield, Mo., and Aberhart Ag Solutions, Brandon, Man., will support the distribution and acceptance of Soileos among Western Canadian farmers, providing distribution and sales support.
“AGT Foods is pleased to join with our partners at Lucent to announce the commercial production of Soileos,” said AGT Foods Founder and CEO Murad Al-Katib. “AGT is a value-added miller of pulse crops and other grains that produces fiber byproducts. To use these byproducts to produce a micronutrient pellet that assists farmers in boosting their yield while at the same time returning carbon to their soil and reducing the need for nitrogen fertilizer application in the future years is ground-breaking innovation.”
“This project is an example of what happens when innovation and collaboration collide,” said PIC CEO Bill Greuel. “From a chance meeting in 2019, to a pilot project that produced 1 kg of Soileos a day and tested the effectiveness of pea, lentil, and oat hulls through 2020 and 2021 and now to full-scale commercialization, this project proves how important innovation is to the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of Canada’s agri-food sector, and the commitment of the industry to sustainability and the environment.”
PIC is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization created to position Canada as a global source of high-quality plant protein and plant-based co-products. It is one of Canada’s five innovation Superclusters. PIC said that along with industry partners, it has invested more than $480 million in the past three years in growing Canada’s plant-based food, feed, and ingredient sector. PIC’s goal is to grow Canada’s plant-based food sector to $25 billion a year by 2035, supported by 17,000 jobs.