Enabling the economic livelihood of farmers, even small-scale farmers, is a key focus in the sustainability agenda around food. And given the decreasing nutritive power of food crops, nutrition remains an ongoing concern for the planet. Terviva seeks to address both areas.

Larta Institute has been proud to work with Terviva over a long period since their 2011 NSF CAP Phase I award when they were discovering the genetic benefits of the pongamia tree. Over the years, Naveen Sikka, the charismatic and inspiring CEO of Terviva, has been a presenter at several of Larta’s annual Ag Showcase events. At the 2021 Ag Innovation Showcase, Naveen highlighted the capabilities of reforesting land with poor soil quality with their pongamia seed and technology, and, as important, helping farmers affected by climate change and its effects, while also providing a nutritious food source. The Company anticipates that one orchard of pongamia trees, will, over the next 30 years, filter 115 tons of carbon dioxide from the environment.

Terviva has introduced the pongamia tree as a new commercial crop that converts distressed farmland into sustainable and productive acreage. Starting with fields devastated by citrus greening in Florida, a blight that has rapidly moved to Texas and California, the company has been able to unlock the pongamia tree’s potential as a climate-friendly, nutritional powerhouse to address food deficiency. Terviva is the first company to develop high-yielding, non-GMO cultivars of Pongamia and to create edible protein and oil from its beans to feed people. The pongamia tree, native to Asia, requires little water, virtually no fertilizer or pesticides, and can adapt to extreme climates.