An innovative network of public- and private-sector groups are working together to transfer federal research out of the lab and into the marketplace—where it can not only solve important agricultural problems, but also serve as an economic accelerator. Such is the Agricultural Research Partnerships (ARP) Network, a program created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, (ARS) Office of Technology Transfer.
The ARP Network is really sort of a 21st-century rolodex crossed with a marriage broker—a group of about 30 regional organizations across the U.S. who have close connections with companies, agriculture associations, economic development groups, venture capitalists and economic incubators within their region or State. ARP Network partners match businesses and organizations in their regions that have technology needs to ARS researchers or ARS technologies that are ready for development and commercialization.
The result is not only research that develops into useful products and solves problems, but also new businesses that grow the agricultural economy and create jobs.
For example, ARP Network member Ben Franklin Technology Partners brought together Pennsylvania entrepreneur and chemist Liyang Cheng—who saw the possibilities of a wider market for American ginseng and ginseng products if the quality and shelf life could be improved—with ARS microbiologist Brendan A. Niemira and ARS food technologist Tony Jin both located in Wyndmoor, PA.
As a result, Cheng founded OGA Health in 2011 and entered into a formal agreement with ARS in 2013 that included OGA Health funding for the needed research.
Niemira’s and Jin’s research, which is still underway, focuses on advanced antimicrobial interventions, along with optimized packaging and storage. Already, they and OGA Health have seen a six- to seven-month increase in the shelf life of pristine fresh ginseng, a very valuable commodity in great demand in Asian medicinal markets.
This work also has the potential for benefitting more than just the high-value American ginseng crops being grown on small farms in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and other States. For Niemira and Jin, ginseng is a model system. The technologies they are developing for ginseng are likely to translate into applications for other high-value root and tuber crops such as daikon, horseradish, parsnips and ginger. While storage extension technologies are already well developed for bulk-value crops like carrots and turnips, there is always the possibility that results from this research could develop into new opportunities for those crops, too.
Many more agricultural issues exist that need innovative solutions, and collaborating with other creative minds is one step in helping move Federal research from lab to market. The ARP Network represents innovation at its best.
