LAKE LINDEN ? A Western Upper Peninsula Michigan biotech company has received $500,000 from federal and state grants to develop test kits for phosphates, an important measurement for agriculture production and in water quality protection.

The Small Business Innovation Research Program of the National Institute of Agriculture, the research arm of the US Department of Agriculture, awarded a two-year grant totaling $460,000 to The Nitrate Elimination Company.

?This is a very competitive program,? said NECi Vice President Ellen Campbell. ?Only 38 of these grants were awarded nationwide in 2011.? One full-time and two part-time jobs have been added to NECi?s staff due to the award. ?At the end of the grant, we?ll have new products for our customers. They?ve have been asking us for phosphate testing to go along with our products for measurement of nitrate.?

In addition to the SBIR grant, the Michigan Emerging Technology Fund, a program of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, is providing a matching grant of $40,000 for marketing the new test kits. SBIR funds are for R&D only. The Michigan ETF comes from the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center, in partnership with the Michigan EDC.

?It?s no good to invent something if no one knows it exists,? Campbell said. NECi will use these funds to add video demonstrations of the new products to their website, for example.

NECi will use the grant money to further develop the phosphate test kits for agricultural and educational use, and reagents for commercial and research labs. The first phosphate testing products will feature easy-to-use kits designed for on-site use, expanding NECi?s current line of test kits for nitrate detection.

Although phosphate is an essential nutrient for plant productivity, it is also a major pollutant when applied in excess. On-the-spot phosphate testing can provide information needed for better control of phosphate fertilizer in the field.

NECi?s product line of kits for phosphates ? as with the current nitrate test kits ? will be used to test soil, water (for drinking and runoff), crops/plants, and forage (both dry and wet). These tests can be used on site for quick, yet informed, reliable decision-making for better nutrient management.

As the August 2009 Groundwater Bulletin from the Michigan Agri-Business Association (MABA) puts it: ?The most important reason to soil test is to have a basis for intelligent application of fertilizer ? we cannot afford to pollute our surface water and ground waters by indiscriminately applying phosphorus or nitrogen fertilizers.?

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