Exclusive: Lux Research's Sara Olson On Opportunities In Green Agriculture (Part 2)

Last week on Benzinga's PreMarket Prep broadcast, host Joel Elconin interviewed Sara Olson, PhD, a Research Analyst at Lux Research. Lux Research is an independent technology and growth scouting company. Lux assists clients to find new business opportunities for emerging technology in physical and life sciences in 17 different sectors. The company services large multinational companies, most of which are Innovation 1000 and Fortune 500 companies. Biopesticides and Productivity Sara Olson commented that she does not believe biopesticides will hurt agricultural productivity, as synthetic pesticides target numerous crop pests compared with the biopesticides, which target a specific pest. She added that incorporating a specific biopesticide can aid in "increasing productivity […] by adding one more line of defense." The analyst included a recent example where the increased use of biopesticides may lay regulatory framework. A few months ago, Europe passed a law to ban neonicotinoid pesticides for two years. Olson noted the "gap in farmers crop protection portfolio," with no synthetic alternative available to farmers. Opportunities for Investors For investors, Olson remarked on the "razor thin margins" of the agriculture market. She pointed out that any pesticide that works and appears successful will grow fast. The biopesticides that do not work well will go away quickly. Related: Exclusive: Lux Research's Sara Olson On Opportunities In Green Agriculture Olson also reported on a few opportunities in the private and public sector of biotechnology. The analyst noted Vestaron's recent EPA approval for spider-venom pesticides in the private sector. In addition, she sees opportunities in Marrone Bio Innovations MBII and Andermatt Biocontrol. Olson notes further potential for pharma and animal health companies as they have "the know how to screen small molecules." She specifically pointed out Novis Pharmaceuticals and Alanco Technologies. Olson also looked at Acadia BioScience's developments in crop improvement space. The California-based company is currently working with nitrogen-use efficient rice. Acadia is working with the Chinese government to provide the modified rice for free to Chinese farmers for access to carbon credits. She said that investors and the general public should pay attention to carbon credits and carbon markets as "the green push will come from green house emission." She concluded that this will be a financially sound investment.