A Seattle-based agricultural machine vision company is investing in the future of integrated pest management (IPM) by acquiring a consulting, education and media group well-versed in biological controls and crop management.
iUNU, which created the artificial intelligence-based LUNA cultivation platform, announced Tuesday it will acquire CropWalk, the privately held, mobile IPM consultancy along with its affiliated CropTalk Media, which produces the CropTalk podcast.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The CropWalk and CropTalk team, focused on teaching high-value crop producers how to prevent and manage plant pathogens, has developed pest-management training sessions, the online CropWalk Academy and remote monitoring.
iUNU, which had hired CropWalk to consult with its grower customers, saw the value in continuing the relationship permanently, CEO Adam Greenberg told Hemp Industry Daily, pointing to a continued shortage in both labor resources and trained growers in agricultural crops including cannabis.
“Having a renowned agronomy team to assist in deploying state-of-the-art technology like LUNA will have a profound impact on our constantly improving capacity to help growers increase quality, yields and profits,” Greenberg said in a statement.
The deal allows CropWalk to expand its “start clean, stay clean” mantra, according to CropWalk CEO Charlie McKenzie.
“Working with the iUNU team and using LUNA, we can digitally walk a crop from anywhere at any time, allowing our team to effectively prevent problems before they result in economic injury,” McKenzie said.
