Roger Tripathi stands by while Jesús Yáñez, CEO-Founder, GreenCorp, presents "Opportunities for Product Innovation in Mexico."

Three main areas where plant biostimulants affect ag efficiency are: improve tolerance to abiotic stress, improve nutrient use efficiency, and improve crop quality. The total loss of food production in the agri-chain due to abiotic stress is $200 billion. Between 30% and 50% of the nutrients applied are not available for the plant. “If we can make it more efficient, there is a huge opportunity there.”

"The reality is that trust is the big thing when you’re in distribution. Trust comes from credibility, reliability, and customer intimacy. If you’re working for selfish profiteering you’re hurting the whole industry. Understanding customer needs and meeting those needs is essential. If you ask me what I want everyone to think about, it's connecting the grower and consumer."

Biostimulant market in Brazil is mixed with micronutrients and is a $800-million industry, even though it is still considered an “informal” industry. The drivers are: seaweed products; fermentation by-products; bacteria capable of auxin-like production; amino acids; and natural substances (Neem).

"EPA has been working on a guidance doc since 2016, which would clarify the types of claims that would trigger a FIFRA registration requirement. Guidance is supposed to be released to the Office of Management and Budget in October. It's a bit of a moving target when we will actually see this document."

Sharp advises attendees to avoid panacea claims, guru-centered marketing, and the holistic portfolio approach, where you ask a farmer to buy individual products for a combined effect. "You may think you might sell (many) products, but in reality you’ll sell little."

"Pricing is always a question -- to make sure everyone in the chain makes money. If it's not a win-win for both companies it's not going to go anywhere."

"You've got to have sound science. It’s very interesting to me in society today, broadly -- whether in the U.S. or other areas -- with the advent of social media, how quickly information flows. It's challenging to know what is real or not, and science can be impacted by that. Having data and being able to demonstrate efficacy is absolutely critical. Building a database takes time."