What's Driving Nano-Cap Agri-Biotech Arcadia Biosciences Higher?

Nano-cap agri-biotech Arcadia Biosciences Inc RKDA's stock was rallying on roughly 94 times its average volume Friday.

What Happened

Arcadia said Thursday after the close that Verdeca, a joint venture between the company and Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp BIOX, has received approval from the Department of Agriculture for its HB4 drought-tolerant soybeans.

The approval came after a regulatory review and two years after the FDA approved Verdeca's HB4 trait in 2017.

The HB4 trait is developed to benefit soybean producers through quality improvement, stress mitigation and management practices.

"Approval of this technology in the United States is a significant step for the successful commercialization of HB4 technology in the global soybean market," Martin Mariani Ventura, general manager of Verdeca, said in a statement. 

The HB4 trait has already been approved in Argentina and Brazil, with regulatory review underway in China, Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay.

Why It's Important

Over 30 million of the world's soybean hectares are grown in the U.S.

Key soybean areas, including some areas in the U.S., suffered last year from reduced yields due to water and heat stress, according to Verdeca. 

The approval of the trait should help traders circumvent the problems arising from weather aberrations.

Arcadia shares were trading higher by 94.53% to $3.91 at the time of publication Friday, while 

Bioceres shares were trading up by 5.22% at $7.05. 

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