AgShift Launches Pilot Project with Marrone Bio Innovations to More Efficiently Assess the Impact of Biological Pesticides on the Quality of Fresh Produce

DAVIS, Calif., Sept. 06, 2017 -- Marrone Bio Innovations (MBI) (NASDAQ:MBII), a leading provider of bio-based pest management and plant health products for agriculture, turf and ornamental and water treatment markets, has joined a pilot project with AgShift, a Santa-Clara based agriculture technology startup, to assess the impact of the use of biological pesticides on the quality of fresh produce.

AgShift has developed a revolutionary new digital tool to rapidly assess the quality of fresh produce that MBI is piloting to determine the effectiveness of its biopesticides, which, if proven successful, will save California farmers and packers significant time and money.

This pilot test is being implemented this year on strawberries in Watsonville, CA. It is the first time that farmers will be able to view a digital reflection of the growth of the strawberry crop.  The project will more efficiently produce digital and visual records of crop input treatments—such as biopesticides—and the resulting correlations with the produce quality. The project will also analyze the impact of other external factors, such as weather, soil and irrigation patterns on produce quality. This will better help MBI access the efficiency and efficacy of their biopesticides.

There is currently a digital revolution in agriculture with both large multinationals and startup companies seeking to help farmers increase productivity and profits by organizing and analyzing on-farm data, including yield, soil test, fertility, chemicals, traits and seed varieties. The application of “big data”, sensors, precision tools and robotics to improve and enhance pest management tools and decisions is just beginning. The use of these and digital tools in the use of biological pesticides is in its infancy.

MBI, one of the forward-thinking companies in pest management industry, has been developing effective and environmentally responsible bio-based pest management and plant health products since 2006.

AgShift has developed an innovative mobile-first solution that automates food quality assessment and brings digital transparency to the food industry. AgShift’s proprietary deep-learning algorithms and computer vision algorithms automate key elements of food quality assessment across the supply chain. To put it simply, in this collaboration with MBI, a farmer will use an iPhone app to take a photo of the crop after treatment with MBI’s biopesticide, which rapidly assesses the crop’s (fruit) quality and number.

"We're passionate about applying technology to solve real issues facing food industry today," said Miku Jha, AgShift’s CEO and founder. "And in this case, we're applying our solution to do something that's so important -- to enable MBI to more quickly and digitally measure the impact of their new biological products on the quality of fresh produce real time on the farm."

Pam Marrone, MBI’s founder and CEO, said: “AgShift’s approach to conducting an objective, real- time, digital assessment of produce quality after treatment with our biopesticides provides both the company and our grower customers a more efficient and reliable way to assess the effect of our biological products on the crop. Current solutions and tools rely on manual measurements that are subjective and too dependent on an individual’s expertise.”

Marrone, continued: “AgShift’s emphasis on being a mobile-first solution and ease of use is very important for farmers and the produce industry. Now, we want pest management to equally benefit from new technology, so we’re working with them to bring this innovative, digital solution to the market.”

About AgShift Inc.
AgShift is based in Santa Clara, Calif. and specializes in providing applications and technology to bring automation and transparency to the food system at a global scale. The company came out of prestigious THRIVE AgTech accelerator program earlier this year, where it was selected as one of the top 10 innovative AgTech companies of 2017.

Please visit www.agshift.com, https://www.facebook.com/AgShift or @AgShift for additional information about AgShift, its business and latest news.

About Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc.
Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (NASDAQ:MBII) strives to lead the movement to a more sustainable world through the discovery, development and promotion of biological products for pest management and plant health. MBI’s effective and environmentally responsible pest management solutions help customers operate more sustainably while uniquely improving plant health and increasing crop yields. MBI currently has six commercially available products (Regalia®, Grandevo®, Venerate®, Majestene®, Haven™ and Zequanox®) as well as eight product candidates in various stages of the company’s rapid development pipeline. MBI also distributes Bio-tam 2.0® for Isagro USA in the western U.S. and Jet-Ag® for Jet Harvest in most regions of the U.S.

Marrone Bio Innovations is dedicated to pioneering smart biopesticide solutions that support a better tomorrow for both farmers and consumers around the globe.  For more information, please visit www.marronebio.com.

Marrone Bio Innovations Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties.  All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release regarding strategy, future operations and plans, including assumptions underlying such statements, are forward-looking statements, and should not be relied upon as representing MBI’s views as of any subsequent date.  Examples of such statements include statements regarding the application of new technology to the use of the Company’s products and its effect on the potential benefits of the Company’s products. Such forward-looking statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date of this release and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some beyond the Company's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements, including consumer, regulatory and other factors affecting demand for the Company’s products, any difficulty in marketing MBI’s products, competition in the market for pest management products, lack of understanding of bio-based pest management products by customers and growers.  Additional information that could lead to material changes in MBI’s performance is contained in its filings with the SEC.  MBI is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any responsibility to, update or alter forward-looking statements contained in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Marrone Bio Innovations Contacts:
Pam Marrone, CEO and Founder
Telephone: +1 (530) 750-2800
Email: [email protected]

MBI Investor Relations:
Greg Falesnik
Managing Director
MZ Group – MZ North America
Main: 949-385-6449 
[email protected]      
www.mzgroup.us       

AgShift Contact: 
Miku Jha, CEO and Founder 
Telephone: +1 (669) 226-4708 
Email: [email protected]