TerreLocal has a passion for helping communities, including farmers, food sellers, and consumers. Through TerreLocal, you can reach advisors, scientists and consultants to access advanced tools and technologies to increase your crop quality and yield.
“Soil tests are done routinely in food production to control plant nutrients. However, these tests ignore how soil conditions affect those nutrients because we do not test for them in the plants and their fruits. The real economic value of crops is in the quantity and quality of the nutrients they provide. Our companies focus on this analytical angle that will become the future of agricultural food production.”
- Rajnish Khanna, Ph.D. and Roberto Bogomolni, Professor Emeritus.
On TerreLocal, you can create your free product listing to sell directly to businesses and individual consumers and highlight your product’s special qualities, making it more attractive to customers than other similar products. For example, you can display your product’s field performance or nutrient profile of food products, analyzed by independent scientists. If you like, TerreLocal will help you connect with the scientists who can help develop your unique product profile to share with your customers on TerreLocal.
Whether you are an agricultural and food industry product manufacturer interested in assessing your product’s performance on the field or in the greenhouse, advancing your product development and IP protection, determining your product’s method of action and field optimization, or if you are a farmer working on agricultural land to cultivate crops, contact us (services@terrelocal.org) or our partner i-Cultiver (info@i-cultiver.com) to access research and analytical services with consultation from leading academic and industry professionals. We are here to work with you within your budget to bring access to advanced tools and knowledge. The goal is to apply advanced methodology to improve food nutrients for the benefit of producers, product manufacturers and eaters in the entire food supply chain.
TerreLocal collaborates with i-Cultiver and its consortium of scientists to provide access to different methods and advanced tools for the purpose of microbiome profiling and determining the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and other majority of measurable nutrient elements in the periodic table to improve the health and nutrient quality of soil, plant parts, and foods for consumption.
1. Customized Research and Development
2. Microbiome Profiling Services
3. Nutrient Analysis Services
4. Field and Greenhouse Trials
5. Remote Monitoring for Crop and Tree Health
6. New Methods For Soil and Crop Health Analysis
Producing food is one of the oldest professions. However, in the last five decades, food producers have become increasingly disconnected from the people and animals who consume the food they produce. Super industrialization of food has had negative impacts on delivering adequate nutrients. The primary focus has shifted to increasing yields. Growing food for human and animal consumption bears the responsibility of delivering nutrients to support healthy life with minimal impact on the planet. It requires the management of essential nutrient elements to cultivate top-quality crops, which can generate profits for the grower and improve planetary health. Soil is a significant source from where plants get nutrients. Plants absorb nutrients from the soil, which then need to be replenished. Routine soil and crop analysis and management is essential for maintaining food quality and combating potential diseases. Soil and plant microbiomes can be profiled and enhanced by beneficial bacterial and fungal applications to increase the efficiency of water and nutrient uptake. It is equally important to monitor the impact of agricultural practices on soil and crops to maintain soil health and increase productivity.Crop health analysis is a critical component that is usually ignored. Plants are living organisms that literally feed the entire planet. Healthy soil produces healthy crops consisting of essential nutrients to sustain life on the planet. Nutrient density in harvested fruits and vegetables can be assessed and competitively valued for the market. Food is available in two forms, either fresh or processed. Consumers are becoming more conscious of their diets. Quantification of nutrients in the end products can help optimize food production and processing, leading to higher nutrient value foods.
Crop health analysis is another critical component that is usually ignored. Plants are living organisms that literally feed the entire planet. Healthy soil produces healthy crops consisting of essential nutrients to sustain life on the planet. Nutrient density in harvested fruits and vegetables can be assessed and competitively valued for the market. Food is available in two forms, either fresh or processed. Consumers are becoming more conscious of their diets. Quantification of nutrients in the end products can help optimize food production and processing, leading to higher nutrient value foods.
TerreLocal has partnered with i-Cultiver, which is a consortium of scientists and industry professionals with a deep knowledge of food production methods, crop monitoring, nutrient assessment, marketing strategies and local food supply chains. They provide consultation and analytical services to the food and agriculture industry.
Contact TerreLocal or i-Cultiver for your specific needs for customized work, including collaborative research with the option of peer-reviewed publications.
Greenhouse and Field Trials
TerreLocal works with i-Cultiver in providing greenhouse and field trials, including yield, crop health (biotic and abiotic pressures) and nutrient quality trials. The i-Cultiver consortium of university and industry professionals design and perform customized trials, with the possibility of publication in peer-reviewed journals in collaboration with leading researchers. The availability of these services and the scope may vary based upon the project and its goals.
Microbiome profiling (16S rRNA gene sequencing)
Microorganisms are closely linked to all genetic and biochemical processes that sustain life on our planet. Microbes influence human health, lifestyle and diseases, and they stimulate plant growth and provide essential support to the ecosystem.
With recent advances in next generation sequencing methods, it is possible to profile microbial communities in soil, inside the crops, in our guts and nearly all compartments of the planetary microbiome. Microbiome profiling can provide critical information in determining plant growth and health. Beneficial bacteria in the soil provide unquestionable support by metabolizing complex nutrients to make them available to crops. Microbiome profiling of soil, rhizosphere (the soil tightly attached to root surface) and endosphere (inside the roots) is significantly effective in managing crop performance.
Collecting and shipping soil and crop samples to i-Cultiver is convenient because only small volumes are needed for the analysis. Separating the soil, rhizosphere and endosphere compartments requires specialized training and expertise. Collected samples can be shipped to i-Cultiver for processing and analysis. Contact us (services@terrelocal.org) or i-Cultiver (info@i-cultiver.com) and we will guide you through the steps for sample collection and shipment for microbiome profiling.
Nutrient Chemical Analysis
Nutrient chemical analyses of soil, plant organs, and harvested food is performed by various methods. These methods can be used to determine the potential of the soil to supply nutrients and trace elements necessary for plant nourishment, the uptake of nutrients into the plant, and the nutrient density in harvested or processed foods.
ICP Analysis Method
Inductively Coupled Plasma or ICP procedure is a powerful method to analyze nutrient elements present in soil, roots, leaves, or any consumable food. Samples can be shipped to our partner, i-Cultiver. TerreLocal supports production and consumption of nutritionally rich foods. Contact us (services@terrelocal.org) or i-Cultiver (info@i-cultiver.com) and we will guide you through the steps for sample collection and shipment for ICP Analysis.
XRF Analysis
X-ray fluorescence or XRF is an advanced element analysis technique. It uses X-ray signatures of individual elements to spot the molecular composition in samples.
Nitrogen Quantification
Nitrogen levels can be quantified in soil, plant and food samples. Contact us for more details.
Nutrient Pigment/Antioxidant Analysis
Pigments such as anthocyanin, beta-carotene, or other nutritionally valuable antioxidants can be measured. Contact us for more details.
Flavor and Aroma Compounds
Organic compounds such as phenolics contribute to flavor and aroma. These and other components can be measured. Contact us for more details.
Chlorophyll Measurement
Chlorophyll measurement can reveal relative photosynthetic capacity between treated and control plants. It can also be used to determine delays in senescence. Leaf chlorophyll levels may drop due to stress, disease and senescence. Monitoring chlorophyll levels can provide a good estimate of changes in plant health and productivity. Contact us for more details.
Remote Monitoring by Quantitative Analysis of Available Satellite Images
Visit CLASlite.org to register
CLASlite is a unique software that converts spectral information from satellite images into quantitative greenness maps. CLASlite can be used to monitor changes in greenness of treetops and crops on land surface. It can be used historically with available satellite images to correlate incidents of stress with the health of trees in a forest and healthy land cover, leading to assessments of crop performance and yield management. CLASlite is available through i-Cultiver with a free online course. It performs sophisticated analysis with user-friendly interphase. Developed by Dr. Greg Asner, CLASlite is designed to monitor land cover (greenness) by anyone with a PC computer for any GPS location around the globe. Contact us for more details.
For any of the above Consultation and Analytical needs, contact TerreLocal (services@terrelocal.org) or i-Cultiver (info@i-cultiver.com).
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