ONIT Sciences, an agriculture company specializing in organic input technologies, announced today that Eric Mathur, a globally recognized plant geneticist and molecular biologist, has been named the company's Chief Science Officer. Mathur is a subject matter expert in crop improvement and has conducted research worldwide in the industrial plant sciences arena. His skill sets and knowledge traverse genome sciences, molecular biology, plant molecular breeding, environmental microbiology and agricultural biotechnology. His expertise, industry network and insights into plant health make him the perfect professional to lead ONIT's research, development and sales support initiatives.
"There has never been a better time for organic alternatives to traditional chemical agriculture inputs," said Mathur. "ONIT Sciences has demonstrated an astounding ability to accelerate nutrient uptake and improve pathogen control in a wide variety of crops and conditions with its products, resulting in augmented plant health and productivity, including drought tolerance, pest resistance, and yield preservation. I am extremely excited to be involved with this company and look forward to introducing ONIT Grow and ONIT Input + to my contacts in the US and abroad."
Mathur's career spans over 40 years with focus on translational science, making significant advances in plant sciences research. He managed large scientific teams and multiple corporate collaborations with plant science partners including Syngenta, Dow, Monsanto and BASF while at Diversa Corporation. Later, at Synthetic Genomics, he spearheaded DNA sequencing and annotation of the oil palm genome and established a platform for plant growth promoting bacteria, Agradis, which was acquired by Monsanto.
Mathur has served as Chief Science Officer and focused on crop improvement for multiple agricultural biotech companies including Yulex, SG Biofuels, GreenKiss NY, Cultivation Technologies Inc., and Tilt Holdings, where he applied modern genomic tools and plant molecular breeding methods to accelerate plant productivity. His work culminated in dramatic yield improvements in a number of sustainable crops including, Guayule for natural rubber production, Jatropha for biodiesel, Coffee, Cannabis and Hemp.
"Since joining the team last month, Mathur has led several projects, including field trials for a cattle rancher in Georgia who is using the product in his grazing fields," stated Gerry Martin, ONIT's CEO. "This rancher owns a processing center serving 195 local cattle ranchers and intends to serve as a distribution center for ONIT products pending favorable trial results. Mathur also traveled to Colombia, where he met with a major producer of organic palm oil with field trial design plans underway, and sample product scheduled to be shipped soon.
Eric Mathur is an internationally recognized speaker who authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and is named inventor on 125+ issued patents. His passion lies in leveraging genome-based technologies to develop nutrient dense foods and therapeutic medicinals. Mathur is also an ardent supporter of sustainable agricultural and does his part to help secure global food & energy security, while minimizing the impact on our fragile environment.
