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Mission
UIC
will replace current agricultural soil testing
methods and simplify environmental testing. UIC's
product is a patented, resin-filled mesh capsule
that "adsorbs" nutrients, chemicals, or organic
substances and reveals nutrient dynamics and
bioavailability. UIC has developed standard
procedures for worldwide agricultural and
environmental markets.
Strategic Plans
This
new, innovative technology for agricultural and
environmental applications provides reliable data
for environmental studies, eliminates problems
inherent in current agricultural soil testing, and
reduces overall costs.
The
Washington Technology Center of Washington State
University's Irrigated Agricultural Research Center
granted UIC a two-year research project for
$88,000. Dr. Joan Davenport is conducting this
grant project in Prosser, Washington. The project
is entitled "Ion Exchange Resin Capsules as
Alternatives to Soil and Plant Tissue
Testing".
A
strategic partnership has been formed with Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). UIC has
utilized PNNL's state-of-the-art Environmental
Molecular Sciences Laboratory to proceduralize our
analytical and laboratory methods under a two-year
use permit. We have teamed with the Agricultural,
Business and Commercialization department at PNNL
to expand our research activities and complete
those activities necessary for market
introduction.
The
Marketing Assessment and Strategy Development
program office from Washington State University in
Richland, Washington completed a marketing study.
The study indicated that agricultural industry
leaders are interested in the new UIC methods
because of their potential to increase
profitability, either in efficiency of production
and/or lower costs. Findings from this study are
referenced throughout this site.
For
environmental monitoring activities, safer and more
effective techniques are in high demand.
Characterization projects are continually
investigating and evaluating new technologies for
introduction within the environmental field. UIC's
resin product has the ability to satisfy this
market's needs for dramatically reducing the volume
of waste samples while providing reliable data for
predicting the location and quantity of
contaminants at your site.
The
application of resin capsule technology and related
innovations provide excellent long-term potential.
Agricultural soil testing must be modernized to
reflect currently available technologies and to
take advantage of current analytical capabilities
of laboratories. The environmental community needs
simpler, accurate, and cost-effective monitoring
methods. The long-term outlook for UIC, is to
become the industry leader, nationally, and
worldwide in these areas.
Agricultural
and Environmental Monitoring
Since
the 1960s, agricultural and environmental testing
have become closely related, including problems
caused by agricultural chemicals and waste
materials. Leaching of chemicals into the
groundwater is a major concern and monitoring this
phenomenon with current soil sampling and analysis
is difficult, time-consuming, expensive, and often
ineffective.
The
WSU marketing study cited the potential for
significant, continued growth in this area.
"Increased governmental regulation concerning
environmental issues and public food safety will
greatly affect the agriculture industry in the near
future. Annual pesticide build up is driving
increasingly strict environmental regulation.
Increased governmental regulation is also
increasing in the oversight of water application in
irrigated settings. Rivers and streams once
primarily used for agriculture are now being
reserved for environmental purposes to the
often-perceived detriment of the irrigated acreage.
Ground water use is being restricted to protect
water tables in many areas. Nitrate leaching is
coming under greater scrutiny. Nitrate
concentrations in ground water, through over
application in agricultural settings have become a
concern in many communities. Dairy waste run-offs
that contaminate rivers and streams are also
becoming a higher priority for governmental
agencies."
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