Verde sells to cannabis and organic agriculture markets in the United States
TORONTO, May16, 2017(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verde AgriTech (TSX:NPK) ("Verde" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has gone into production and has concluded its first export of Super GreensandTM to the United States' cannabis and organic markets.
Super GreensandTM is a multi-nutrient product. It is approved for organic agriculture, it has effectively no salinity and no chloride.
Looking beyond its first export, the Company is in advanced discussions with a leading United States based organic agriculture supplier and distributor with which it expects to sign an agreement in the coming weeks that will bolster and support the Company's presence in the cannabis and organic markets of the United States.
High Value Crops sensitive to salinity
In the United Sates, the Company will also target high value crops sensitive to salinity that are currently grown in areas suffering from high levels of soil salinity and drought. The main target will be almonds grown in the Central Valley of California1, where accumulated salinity reaches critical levels. Almonds are classified as highly intolerant to salinity2 and the target region is responsible for over 80% of California's US$6.4 Billion3 production, though the region is now being crippled by salinity and drought problems. Whereas Verde's Super GreensandTM salinity index is only 0.17%, the two main sources of potash have very high salinity indexes: 116% for potassium chloride and 46% for sulphate of potash.
"We are pleased to have American growers adopting the benefits of Super GreensandTM and will work to expand this growth market. Brazil will remain our primary focus and we look forward to selling all our initial production in the coming months," Cristiano Veloso President & CEO declared.
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1 USGS. https://ca.water.usgs.gov/projects/central-valley/about-central-valley.html
2 Groundwater Salinity Impacting California Almonds http://www.growingproduce.com/nuts/groundwater-salinity-impacting-california-almonds/
3 AgMRC. http://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/nuts/almonds/
About Verde AgriTech
Verde AgriTech promotes sustainable and profitable agriculture through the development of its Cerrado Verde Project. Cerrado Verde, located in the heart of Brazil's largest agricultural market, is the source of a potassium-rich deposit from which the Company intends to produce solutions for crop nutrition, crop protection, soil improvement and increased sustainability.
For additional information please contact:
Cristiano Veloso, President & Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +55 (31) 3245 0205; Email: cv@verdeagritech.com
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