The agri-entrepreneur impressed the five-strong judging panel with his technology which aims to revolutionise crop development and tackle some of farming’s biggest challenges.
Dr Pelton has won a £40,000 business development package and will now work with organisers Farmers Guardian, BASF and Farm491 to elevate his business onto the next level.
Judge and CFO of AgriBriefing, Rupert Levy, said:  “The technology demonstrated by the winner can have a transformative effect on the crop growing world. Being able to develop new breeds with specific traits can offer part of the solution to the growing population and the need to produce more food in a sustainable way. For UK farmers this could be part of the solution to increasing yield in a sustainable way.”
Transforming crop production
Rather than introduce foreign DNA into a plant, Phytoform Labs turns the genes that create desirable and non-desirable traits in a plant on and off.Genome editing is looked on more favourably by regulators in most countries than traditional genetic modification, and is a quicker and more targeted way to develop plants.
Will, who combined his skills with synthetic biologist Dr Nicolas Kral, to found the company, said: “The Phytoform Labs team are really excited and proud to have received this award. The Agri Innovation Den is a great opportunity for us to connect with the UK agricultural community and build our network. With the team behind it we hope to learn more about how these problems affect the agricultural supply chain and how we can better assist in solving these challenges. We would like to say a big thanks to all of the Agri Innovation Den panelists, Farmers Guardian, AgriBriefing, Farm 491 and BASF for their support.”
For full article: https://www.fginsight.com/news/meet-the-winner-of-agri-innovation-den-2019—william-pelton-98267