$VGPR NEWS! Vega Biofuels Completes Reseller Agreement to Market Biochar to Alaska's Legal Cannabis Industry
First order Completed and Being Shipped to Anchorage
NORCROSS, Ga., March 22, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vega Biofuels, Inc. (OTCPink:VGPR) announced today that it has completed a reseller agreement with Alaska-based AK Provisions, Inc. (AKP) to market Vega's biochar product to the legal cannabis industry throughout the state of Alaska. The state of Alaska is the most recent state to legalize both medical and recreational cannabis use.
The Agreement with AKP gives Vega Biofuels an immediate presence in the fast growing cannabis market in Alaska. Vega Biofuels recently announced that the Company has entered into a five year agreement to provide AKP with biochar for its own grow facilities. Today's agreement allows AKP to market Vega's biochar throughout the state to other cannabis grow facilities.
Biochar is a highly absorbent specially designed charcoal-type product primarily used as a soil enhancement for the agricultural industry to significantly increase crop yields. Biochar offers a powerfully simple solution to some of today's most urgent environmental concerns. The production of Biochar for carbon sequestration in the soil is a carbon-negative process. Biochar is made from timber waste using torrefaction technology and the Company's patent pending manufacturing machine. When put back into the soil, biochar can stabilize the carbon in the soil for hundreds of years. The introduction of biochar into soil is not like applying fertilizer; it is the beginning of a process. Most of the benefit is achieved through microbes and fungi. They colonize its massive surface area and integrate into the char and the surrounding soil, dramatically increasing the soil's ability to nurture plant growth and provide increased crop yield.
Vega Biofuels recently announced that the Company received the first Purchase Order from the five year agreement with AKP. The first order has been completed and is being shipped to Anchorage this week. AKP is in the process of setting up their own grow facility in Anchorage and will include Vega's biochar in its soil mixture.
"Things are moving faster than we expected in the Alaska market," stated Michael K. Molen, Chairman/CEO of Vega Biofuels, Inc. "We are pushing to get this first shipment to AKP in time for their first planting. This Reseller Agreement will allow us to have an immediate presence throughout Alaska. Since making our first announcement about the Alaska market, we've received requests from growers all over the world that are interested in using our biochar product. The return on investment is substantial and the result on the plants is staggering. We are already in discussions with growers in other states that are interested in reselling our product. This reseller model will allow us to grow faster and create a much larger footprint within the cannabis industry."
For plants that require high potash and elevated pH, Biochar can be used as a soil amendment to significantly improve yield. Biochar can improve water quality, reduce soil emissions of greenhouse gases, reduce nutrient leaching, reduce soil acidity, and reduce irrigation and fertilizer requirements. Biochar was also found under certain circumstances to induce plant systemic responses to foliar fungal diseases and to improve plant responses to diseases caused by soil-borne pathogens. The various impacts of Biochar can be dependent on the properties of the Biochar, as well as the amount applied. Biochar impact may depend on regional conditions including soil type, soil condition (depleted or healthy), temperature, and humidity. Modest additions of Biochar to soil reduces nitrous oxide N2O emissions by up to 80% and eliminates methane emissions, which are both more potent greenhouse gases than CO2.
