


Priming of seeds to improve germination is being carried out by Daniel Calatayud of Semillistas in Granada. The “ Powerful Seeds” approach incorporates three basic technologies: 1) Priming, 2) Seed Coating and 3) Mycorrhizal Inoculation to support plant fungal symbiosis at the time of germination. This will reduce costs and limitations associated with transplanting of container seedlings, and open up possibilities for landscape level restoration beyond monoculture plantations. Their goal is to formulate ingredients and methods that are reliable and open sourced for world-wide, low-cost application in direct seeding of many plant and tree species for reforestation. Among the challenges they face is the design of the seed coat that must offer both protection from the elements and predators, and help provide nutrition for emerging seedlings.Īs he explained, the technology of seed coating is complex and highly guarded in the agri-food sector. Amorós who presented his project at the cross-cutting seminar Innovative Businesses and Entrepreneurship in Non-Wood Forest Products, 27 and 28 February 2020 in Barcelona, brought one of his light-weight and open-source drone models designed for the dispersion of seeds for global reforestation. He and his team were awarded $20,000 for their innovative development of a seed-coating method, which is critical for their approach to large scale, low-cost direct sowing of native seeds for ecosystem restoration.Ĭonservation X Labs is a US-based technology and innovation company that “spurs innovative solutions to stop the extinction crisis by harnessing genius solutions” from all over our planet. Dronecoria, founded by Lot Amorós of Elche, Spain, is applying drone technology for dispersion of pelletized seeds for reforestation.
