Valorization of lignin as a crop seed additive******

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According to projections from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, by year 2050 the world's population will increase 30% whereas the food requirements will become 70% greater than the current levels. At the same time, the amount of arable land will increase only 5% and agricultural producers will have to deal with the challenges brought by climate change and increasingly stringent environmental regulations. This challenge calls for development of transformative and sustainable technologies and products that can address the imbalance between availability of arable land and growing food needs. In this context, increasing crop productivity in a cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly way becomes a high priority. Retrievall Inc. is a small Ontario-based private company with over 30 years experience as plant growers, trade and retail operations. The company distributes an agricultural crop growth product (biofertilizer) to naturally enhance crop yield. They have acquired exclusive rights for use of patents and finished goods produced using patented processes. However, as the finished biofertilizer product is currently imported from Europe, achieving the company's full potential is impeded by major political, economic, geographic and currency risks. Therefore, Retrievall is now interested to establish manufacturing facilities for biofertilizer production in Canada using Canadian resources. Hence, the objective of this project is to provide proof-of-concept evidence for the opportunity to develop novel, biodegradable and highly-efficient fertilizers from renewable resources available in Canada that can improve soil quality and crop yields in a sustainable manner. Retrievall Inc. is totally dedicated to the introduction of a fully-renewable and sustainable crop input technology on the Canadian market. The ultimate goal, once the principle opportunity for establishing a new, improved process and product has been established, is tri-fold: 1) produce seed additives in Canada using Canadian resources, 2) apply the new product to increase agricultural output per acre at a higher output quality, and 3) store and stabilize large amounts of carbon in soil, improve soil quality, reduce carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions.**********