Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and Sacramento, California, USA
April 7, 2020
Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (TSXV: BEE) (OTCQB: BEVVF) (CVE: BEE) (the "Company" or "BVT") today announced that it will start conducting trials in Morocco, a significant market opportunity for its proprietary bee-delivered crop productivity system. The Company is also in discussions with well-established commercial partners in the region who have expressed interest in collaborating with BVT to bring the Company's system to market for growers in Morocco. One potential partner that has been in the Moroccan market for decades will roll out a significant trial program covering four different crops, including strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and tomato crops.
"Approximately 40%(1) of Morocco's workforce is employed in the agriculture industry, and it contributes around 16%(2) of the national GDP," said Ashish Malik, CEO of Bee Vectoring Technologies. "Morocco has 26,000 hectares (3) of greenhouse production. Our early assessment has identified an estimated 3,000 ha of strawberries, 2,000 ha of raspberries, 2,000 ha of blueberries and 6,000 ha of tomatoes(4) which are all great initial targets for us, but the overall opportunity is expected to be much greater. Substantial exports to the EU, the US east coast, Russia and Africa, make it a significant market with tremendous opportunity for BVT. Moroccan growers are well versed in the use of bumble bees in these crops, so this market is a perfect fit for us."
Morocco's climate gives the country a distinct agricultural advantage of being able to grow berries 10 months of the year. Strawberries are currently the main berry crop, with tremendous growth in blueberry and raspberry production tripling over the past few years.(5) BVT demonstrations will commence in the summer season and will occur as the blooming period for tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries occurs over the course of the calendar year.
"These large-scale demonstrations are the first stage in BVT's path to commercialization in Morocco, and are the basis for major adoption of new on-farm technology," continued Mr. Malik. "We chose Morocco to launch BVT's efforts in Africa because the country is a large, progressive and growing exporter to the vast European marketplace."
The sustainable agriculture movement is gaining momentum worldwide, and sustainability is at the heart of BVT's technology. The company's natural precision agriculture system replaces chemical pesticides and wasteful spray applications by delivering biological pesticide alternatives directly to crops using commercially grown bees.
"These demonstrations represent an opportunity for the Moroccan agricultural industry, and specifically growers, to see first-hand how well the BVT precision agriculture system works in controlling crop disease and improving yields in their local environment," stated Mr. Malik. "They will help growers see how BVT's unique natural precision agriculture system is able to make their operations more productive, profitable and sustainable."
(1) (2) Source: Mordor Intelligence, Morocco Fruits and Vegetables Industry: Growth, Trends and Forecast (2020-2025)
(3) Source: Fresh Plaza, https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9052907/greenhouse-acreage-expanding-faster-in-morocco-than-in-spain/
(4) Source: BVT Estimates
(5) Source: Fresh Plaza, https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9088872/morocco-early-production-is-the-key-to-competitive-berry-exports/
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.
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