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MagGrow, sponsor of the CropTec Spraying Technology Hub, will be introducing its spray drift reduction concept at CropTec, and also hopes to be demonstrating it live at the event.

MagGrow Global is a pioneering, patented magnetic spraying technology system for the agricultural industry. Its innovative technology provides superior coverage to conventional crop spraying systems and also reduces spray drift by up to 80%.

The MagGrow technology system is based upon the premise of attaching magnetic inserts onto a sprayer which imparts an electromagnetic charge into the sprayed liquid.

All living plants and soil have a magnetic field and so the magnetically charged liquid is attracted to its target.

The superior drift control and coverage provided by MagGrow’s technology means that profitability is increased through reduced pesticide wastage, productivity is improved through increased spray windows while supporting environmental regulations and a better environment.

In addition, field studies of MagGrow’s technology on commercial farms in The Netherlands, Kenya and Ethiopia have demonstrated reduction in water usage, reduction in disease pressure, increased spray capacity and reduced labour input due to fewer changeovers of the sprayer, and less waste and environmental contamination.

MagGrow products

The MagGrow crop sprayer system has no moving parts and our MagGrow Crop Sprayer System is easily installed and maintained.

The number of individual parts required is dependent on the size of the crop sprayer. A typical 24m crop sprayer would require a minimum of 6 main magnet housings, 1 boom arm magnet housing per boom section and 1 nozzle adaptor per nozzle.

MagGrow’s product is sold in the form of a retrofit kit that can be easily installed onto all manufacturer sprayer types (www.maggrow.global).

The MagGrow greenhouse Backpack Sprayer includes our pioneering MagGrow technology coupled with our unique application technique to optimize spray operations while maximizing operator comfort.

MagGrow harness and frame

Ergonomic design

Adjustable harness

Magnet housing unit mounted to frame

MagGrow boom

Length 1.75m with maximum spray band of 2m

3 Detachable booms

Vertical or horizontal orientation

Nozzle adaptor

Compatible with any nozzle selection

Swivel holder for individual spray angle adjustment

Built in shut-off valve

Maximum unit weight 7kg

The key benefits are:

Increased profitability
Increased Productivity
Better environment
Supports regulation

About MagGrow

Based in NovaUCD, the hub for new ventures and entrepreneurs at University College Dublin, the firm was founded by brothers Gary and David Wickham and business consultant David Moore. MagGrow’s innovative magnetic technology is aimed at commercial arable farmers and horticultural producers as well as smaller establishments. As well as winning the Thrive Accelerator at the most recent Forbes Ag/Tech summit, MagGrow were also recently awarded the Environmental award at the LAMMA, the UK’s biggest agricultural and machinery show.

CropTec 2016

Make sure to visit MagGrow on stand 182 to find out more about their magnetic spray drift reduction and watch their demonstration in the Spraying Technology hub on the live feeds.

The Spraying Technology hub includes outdoor spraying demonstrations, commentaries and presentations how to avoid drift; new technology; approved stewardship schemes, safe and NRoSO knowledge trail. New feature for 2017, a live feed from various points on sprayer demonstrations will be fed into screens in the hub.

We also have over 140 exhibitors at the event displaying the latest science and technology across the trade stands, while CropTec’s well established seminars and hubs will feature the latest thinking on a range of key arable topics delivered by leading specialists.

The event is free to attend for those visitors that pre-book their tickets. ALL visitors will be charged £15 on the day.

Irish start-up Agricultural Magnetics, t/a MagGrow, has been named winner of the 2016 Thrive Accelerator Sustainability Award, at the 2^nd annual Forbes AgTech Summit held in Salinas, California.

The Forbes AgTech Summit brings together over 500 of the smartest and most entrepreneurial minds in Silicon Valley and global agriculture to tackle some of the world’s most critical challenges.

MagGrow is a pioneering magnetic spraying technology which reduces drift by up to 80% while at the same time delivering superior coverage, a key challenge of existing drift reduction technologies.

Headquartered at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin (UCD), MagGrow was one of just 12 companies from around the world, and the only company from Ireland, selected to participate on the 2016 Thrive Accelerator Programme for promising Food and AgTech start-ups.

Through the 8-week Thrive Accelerator Programme, an initiative of SVG Partners, companies benefited from high-level mentorship, collaboration and direct access to the world’s top fresh agriculture companies in and around Salinas and the central California growing region.

The awards ceremony was the culmination of Thrive’s Demo Day on the first morning of the 2016 Forbes AgTech summit. Demo Day, the hallmark event of the Thrive cohort class, provided the participating start-ups the opportunity to showcase their solutions to a broad audience of investors and corporate partners.

Each start-up pitch was scored by executives from Taylor Farms, Land O’Lakes, Western Growers Association, Wells Fargo, JV Smith, SAP, many of whom are a part of the Thrive programme as mentors during the year.

It is estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations that 20 to 40 percent of global crop output is lost due to plant pests and diseases. Growers combat pests and diseases by spraying herbicide, fungicides and insecticide to improve crop quality and yield.

An unintended consequence of spraying is spray drift, which occurs when application dust or droplets move through the air or soil to an unintended site. Nearby communities, adjacent to crop fields, plants, water supply or other bodies of water, are all impacted by spray applications.

To solve this problem MagGrow has developed a pioneering magnetic spraying technology system which utilises the fact that all living plants and soil have a magnetic field.

Through MagGrow’s technology, which involves the attachment of a series of magnetic inserts onto a sprayer , an electromagnetic charge is infused into the liquid spray, resulting in targeted attraction and superior coverage of the plant or soil resulting in a reduction of spray drift by over 80%.

The superior drift control and coverage provided by MagGrow’s technology means that profitability is increased through reduced pesticide wastage, productivity is improved through increased spray windows while supporting environmental regulations and a better environment.

In addition field studies of MagGrow’s technology on commercial farms in The Netherlands, Kenya and Ethiopia have demonstrated reduction in water usage, reduction in disease pressure, increased spray capacity and reduced labour input due to fewer changeovers of the sprayer, and less waste and environmental contamination.

Gary Wickham, CEO, MagGrow said, “We are truly delighted to have won the 2016 Thrive Accelerator Sustainability Award. It is a great testimony to the dedication of the MagGrow team in the development of our unique technology that has significant transformational benefits for the arable and horticulture sectors.”

He added, “The world’s population is estimated to grow to 9 billion by 2050 so the demand for food and water will increase dramatically but by using current farming methods we simply will not be able to meet this demand. But we truly believe that every generation has the right to a sustainable supply of food and water and so we must find better ways to grow and that is why we developed MagGrow.”

In addition to MagGrow, microbiome testing company Trace Genomics received the 2016 Thrive Accelerator Innovation Award and artificial intelligence and computer vision company GeoVisual received 2016 Thrive Accelerator Operational Excellence Award.

SVG Partners Founder and CEO John Hartnett, who presented the awards to each of the three companies said, “These three companies, like all of the companies that went through the THRIVE accelerator this year, demonstrate the potency of technology in the agriculture sector. MagGrow, Trace Genomics and GeoVisual are the type of companies that will demonstrate how we get to higher crop yield and ensure sustainability through the advent of new technologies and practices.”

Nuritas Research, the Irish bioinformatics start-up, participated on the 2015 Thrive Accelerator Programme and was the winner of the 2015 Thrive Accelerator Award.

Nuritas, founded by Dr Nora Khaldi, had previously completed the 3-month UCD 2013 VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme held at NovaUCD.

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, University College Dublin, Communications Manager (Innovation), t: + 353 1 716 3712, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie or Alison Healy, Chief Commercial Officer, MagGrow, t: + 353 1 716 3695, e: alison.healy@maggrow.global. Twitter: @MagGrowglobal. LinkedIn:MagGrow

Editor’s Notes

MagGrow, founded in 2013 by Gary Wickham, Derek Wickham and David Moore, now employs a staff of 12 people. MagGrow is currently trading in East Africa and is launching in Europe in 2016.

MagGrow operates in two distinct markets, tailoring its product lines to distinct growing practices of developing and developed markets. In developing countries, where the average farm size is only 1 ha, and spraying is mostly conducted using simple knapsack sprayers, MagGrow offers a turnkey range of backpack sprayers. These backpack sprayers allow smallholder farmers to reduce the water and chemical application rates by 80% when compared to conventional spraying methods.

For developed markets, where growers use specialised spraying equipment such as field boom sprayers and air blast sprayers, MagGrow’s product is sold in the form of a retrofit kit that can be easily installed onto all manufacturer sprayer types. www.maggrow.global

THRIVE Accelerator is a unique international business program for promising start-ups in the areas of Food and AgTech. www.thriveaccelerator.com

SVG Partners, based in Silicon Valley, CA, is an investment, technology and advisory firm that partners with organizations on strategy, innovation and global expansion. www.svgpartners.com

At NovaUCD, the hub for new ventures and entrepreneurs at University College Dublin, we nurture and support new high-tech and knowledge-intensive companies as part of UCD’s mission. At NovaUCD we provide purpose-built, state-of-the-art incubation facilities alongside a comprehensive business support programme for client companies such as MagGrow. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx. www.ucd.ie/novaucd

MagGrow products

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