DAVREN US NUTS, LLC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.5

Description

The California almond industry is the State's second largest crop, providing approximately 104,000 jobs and more than $5 billion in revenue annually; it is projected to experience a 25% increase in production by 2020.But the crop suffers hundreds of millions of dollars in postharvest losses each year from insect infestation. The primary treatment for post harvest insects is phosphine, but that substance is highly toxic, dangerous to the environment and potentially to the applicator, but even moresignificantly, it is losing its efficacy as insects develop resistance.The Davren technology will supply a natural alternative to phosphine, and has been proven in the lab to kill many of the insects that now plague the almond industry. The material is a highly specialized form of food-grade silica that must be "activated", then delivered to the food crop in minute quantities. The particle sizes are very small and extremely difficultl to handle; accordingly, the challenge is to develop a delivery system that allows the silica product to reach the food target, measure the amount of silica (which cannot be detected by the naked eye) and assure processors that the product is effective in eliminating post-harvest insects, Our preliminary analysis suggests this can be done at a cost to almond processors that is no more than the costs now being incurred with phosphine gas.