Leading Agtech company, Nutrition Technologies, launches Diptia™ biofertilizer from insect frass

ExecutiveSummary

Diptia™ is a patent-pending bioactive organic fertiliser derived from insect frass

Formulated to prevent fungal plant diseases and build soil health

100% organic fertiliser formulated from Black Soldier Fly (BSF) frass,with added micronutrients and microbial biocontrol agents

Composted and enhanced with a microbial inoculant and insect chitin from BSF

By reintroducing frass-based products back into agriculture,we are getting closer to the stability and resilience of a natural ecosystem

SINGAPORE,May 8,2023 --

Leading Agtech company,Nutrition Technologies,launches Diptia™ biofertilizer from insect frass

TheProductInnovation

On the 5 May 2023,Nutrition Technologies launched their new bioactive organic fertiliser,Diptia™,specifically designed & formulated to combat fungal plant diseases,and protect soil from infection. Diptia™ is a patent pendingNutrition Technologies product derived from Black Soldier Fly frass,that has been composted and enhanced with a microbial biocontrol agent and insectchitin.Thebacteria wasisolatedfromtheBSFlarvaeitself,andhasbeenshowntoinhibit plant pathogens.The chitin is sourced from the exoskeleton of the mature insect pupae and is added to the product to increase the available chitin. These componentswork together to protect the plant root zone from phytopathogenic fungi while improving the plant's natural defences against disease.

Theproblembeing solved

Fungal diseases of crops are increasingly prevalent in tropical agriculture and lack viable prevention and control measures.These diseases cause billions of dollars in losses everyyear,as well as posing a huge risk to food security. For example,in Malaysia alone Ganoderma boninense has infected over151,208 Ha and generated losses of RM1.3 billion (USD300 million) per year through reduced yields and dead trees. As a soil pathogen that infects trees throughtheroots,theinfectionisoftenundetectedfor10+years. Similarly,Fusariumoxysporum

f.sp.cubense (FocTR4)posesanexistentialthreat tothecavendishbananaindustry,worth USD25billionannually,andmakesup99%ofallbananaexports.FocTR4causesatypeof Panama disease,for which there is neither an effective method of treatment nor prevention.

Conventionalsolutionsandtheneedforinnovation

Conventionaldisease controlmeasurescurrentlyrelyonfungicidesandaggressivesanitization suchasburningthesoil.Formanyfungal pathogensthesemethods arerarelyeffective,where they do work they are associated with damaged soils and provide the conditions for the development of fungicide-resistance strains. Diptia™ provides a natural and potent alternative that uses multiple modes of action to both prevent the pathogen from reaching the plant roots,and improving plant defences.

Multiplemodesofactionfuture-prooftheperformance

Insect frass is a common nutrient source for plants in nature,and plants have complex mechanisms to benefit from frass. For instance,plants have receptors that recognize chitin in their environments - usually an indication of fungal attack - which stimulates the upregulation of their immune system in response.By reintroducing frass-based products back into agriculture,we are getting closer to the stability and resilience of a natural ecosystem. The frass of theBlackSoldier Flylarvae(Hermetiaillucens,BSF)haveparticularlypowerful antifungalproperties thanks to their life-history - a tropical insect that evolved in competition with fungi for access to the same nutrients. That evolutionary arms race gave the BSF powerful molecular and microbiological tools to inhibit fungi,and encourage beneficial microbes.

In addition to the plant health benefits of Diptia™,it is also a premium organic fertiliser with an attractiveNPKprofile,carboncontentandrichmicronutrients,andthehighmicrobialactivity of the product improves both soil structure and health. These elements combine in a way that means farm soil can actually improve over time,rather than becoming depleted,adding to the financial benefits of Diptia® for farmers.

TestedintheLabandintheField

Diptia™hasbeenrigorouslyevaluatedinlaboratoryconditions(in-vitro)andingreenhouseand field conditions (in-vivo). In-vitro Diptia™ was found to inhibit Foc TR4 by up to 90% and Ganoderma boninensebyupto82%inmultiple antifungalassayswhich includesdiskdiffusion,sample-amended medium and dual layer agar methods. Results from a third-party greenhouse pot trial with Cavendish bananaand Foc TR4 indicate that Diptia® and a soon-to-be-released liquid foliar product resulted in a Disease Severity Index as low as 4.17% compared to 100% in the control. The trial was conducted by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noor Baity Saidi of the Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences,Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM),she is also a research associate at the Laboratory of Sustainable Agronomy and Crop Protection,Institute of PlantationStudies,UPM."Theseresults demonstrateastrongdiseasesuppressionpotentialby the Diptia™ product,which could ultimately help control this economically devastating disease for Malaysian farmers." said Dr. Noor Baity Saidi. The trial is a significant milestone and adds to a growing portfolio of field application trials that will soon be followed by new larger field challenge trials in banana and oil palm.

Lowenergy,sustainableproductionsystem

Nutrition Technologies have a low-energy tropical production system that uses a unique combinationofmicro-organismsandBlackSoldier Fliestobioconvert60,000tonnesoforganic by-products into value-added products for livestock and agriculture. As a tropical species,the BlackSoldierFlylarvaegrowquickly andefficientlyintheambient Malaysianclimate,meaning that very little energy is required to grow or breed the flies. This low-energy model means that the company benefits from a very low cost of production,but with the same high standards as any European or North American manufacturer,and is able to pass-on those savings to the customer. This makes Nutrition Technologies' products some of the most competitively priced insectproductsintheworld,without compromisingonquality orsafety.Thecompanycurrently ships industrial volumes of material throughout Asia,North & South America and Europe,from the two hectare factory in Malaysia.

"This is the first of two new plant health products we will be launching this year " said Nick Piggott,Co-CEO,NutritionTechnologies."Understandinghowinsectsfitintotheincredibly complex natural ecosystem has enabled us to harness their power fordecomposition,and create a new plant health value proposition not found anywhere else in the world. Diptia™ directly addresses two of the most economically dangerous plant pathogens in the world - GanodermainoilpalmsandFusarium oxysporuminbananas. Bothofthesediseaseshavethe potential to wreak havoc on the global food supply chain if left un-checked,so the release of Diptia™ is a massive step forward in securing the future supply of these two staple crops".

The insect sector has gathered increasing attention over the past few years,with the global insectprotein marketaloneestimatedtobeworth US$343millionin2021,andexpectedtogrow with a CAGR of 26.49% to reach US$1.3 billion by 2027. As a sustainable solution to help minimise multiple unsustainable practices,the sector as a whole has seen investments totalling nearly US$1 billion.

AboutNutritionTechnologies

Nutrition Technologies is biotech company headquartered in Singapore and operating in Malaysia on a mission to address global food security. Founded in 2015 by two British entrepreneurs,Nick Piggott & Tom Berry,the company manufactures sustainable animal feed ingredients and biofertilisers,using a unique combination of biotechnology and black soldier fly larvae to recycle nutrients from agricultural and food processing by- products. In 2021 the company scaled-up to industrial production with the launch of its two-hectare factory in Johor,Malaysia.Itisnowastepfurtheronitspathtowardsdevelopingasustainablecircular economy within the agricultural sector. Nutrition Technologies plans to build several similar size facilities across Southeast Asia in the next 5 years. More information can be found at www.nutrition-technologies.com