Mississauga, Ontario and Sacramento, California--(Newsfile Corp. - April 28, 2021) - Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (CSE: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (CVE: BEE) (the "Company" or "BVT") today announced a new R&D trial with Rutgers University's Agricultural Research and Extension Center for the 2021 growing season. The Company has also secured its first sales commitments in New Jersey, with two berry growers joining the growing ranks of BVT customers.
The Rutgers trial is being conducted on blueberry crops in four New Jersey locations, and will evaluate the efficacy of BVT's proprietary Vectorite with CR-7 (Clonostachys rosea CR-7) (CR-7) applied with bee vectoring technology against disease (primarily Anthracnose) under local conditions. Commercially-managed bumblebees and honeybees will be used with BVT's natural precision agriculture system.
"The land-grant universities across the US play a very important enabling role in our markets, but their level of influence varies in each state and crop. Rutgers plays a very important role for blueberries in New Jersey," said Ian Collinson, Sales Manager at Bee Vectoring Technologies. "The Rutgers trial and the grower commitments align with our 2021 commercialization objectives. We have already accelerated penetration in the US Southeast, Midwest, and now Northwest berry markets, with revenues secured, and have also started initial trials in California. We have real momentum going in the US, and anticipate it will keep building in coming seasons."
"When it comes to industry influence, Rutgers is the absolute leader for agriculture in New Jersey. Growers look to and trust them, so this trial with such an authoritative body is a strong first step in our expansion in this important market," said Everett Hendrixon, Midwest and Eastern US Territory Manager at Bee Vectoring Technologies. "We've had some growers in other states use our system for a season and not use it for the next, then return after seeing high disease pressure and reduced yield. Compelling research from experts like Rutgers will help mitigate this uneven cycle."
The Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Upper Deerfield (Cumberland County) focuses on work that can be applied to high-quality small fruits, vegetable crops, field crops, trees and ornamentals, with emphasis on crop protection and integrated pest management.
One of four Rutgers locations in New Jersey for the trial
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BVT VectorHive honeybee dispensers on hives at the start of the trial
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With 9,000 acres(1) of blueberries, the crop is big business in New Jersey, producing 44 million pounds every year, and amounting to US$62.4 million(2) in annual revenue.
The blueberry blooming period started in mid-April, and the New Jersey growers are already using BVT's natural precision agriculture system on about 20 of 550 acres under production. Based on common practice and the actions of previous growers trialing the system, the Company expects these growers will add BVT on progressively more acreage in the coming two to three seasons based on positive results and the outcome of the trials with Rutgers.
(1) Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service
(2) Source: New Jersey Department of Agriculture, 2019 Annual Report & Agricultural Statistics
About Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc.
BVT, an agriculture technology company, is a market disruptor with a significant global market opportunity in the $240 billion crop protection and fertilizer market. BVT has pioneered a natural precision agriculture system that replaces chemical pesticides and wasteful plant protection product spray applications by delivering biological pesticide alternatives to crops using commercially grown bees. BVT's award-winning technology, precision vectoring, is completely harmless to bees and allows minute amounts of naturally-derived pesticides (called biologicals) to be delivered directly to blooms, providing improved crop protection and yield results than traditional chemical pesticides - and improving the health of the soil, the microbiome and the environment. Currently, BVT has over 65 granted patents, over 35 patents pending in all major agricultural countries worldwide, and has US EPA registration of its Vectorite™ with CR-7 (EPA Registration No. 90641-2) for sale as a registered biological fungicide for use on the labeled crops.
Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.beevt.com. To receive regular news updates from the Company, subscribe at www.beevt.com/newsletter.
Company Contact:
Ashish Malik, President & CEO
info@beevt.com
Investor Contact:
Babak Pedram, Investor Relations
Virtus Advisory Group
Tel: 416-995-8651
bpedram@virtusadvisory.com
The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to the Company, "annual revenue potential", are intended to identify forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect the Company's current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including: planted acres, selling price of competitive chemical pesticides and the US to Canadian dollar exchange rate. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include changes in law, competition, litigation, the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities, state of the capital markets, the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations, new technologies, the ability to protect intellectual property rights, the ability to obtain patent protection for products, third-party intellectual property infringement claims, regulatory changes affecting products, failing research and development activities, the ability to reach and sustain profitability, dependence on business and technical experts, the ability to effectively manage business operations and growth, issuance of debt, dilution of existing securities, volatility of publicly traded securities, potential conflicts of interest, unlikelihood of dividend payments, the potential costs stemming from defending third-party intellectual property infringement claims, the ability to secure relationships with manufacturers and purchasers, as well as general economic, market and business conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's Filing Statement dated August 14,2020, filed with the CSE and securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. All figures are in Canadian dollars.
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