By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH

Indiana Correspondent

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Inari, a Cambridge, Mass.-based plant breeding technology company, expects to open a seed foundry at Purdue University’s Research Park by Feb. 1, 2019.

The foundry will be used to produce seeds with more genetic diversity than currently available, thus “equipping crops to be more resilient to climate change and respectful to the environment – all while significantly lowering product development costs and accelerating the timeline for introduction of new varieties,” the company said.

Inari added that the foundry will be the first of its kind in the world.

The 26,000 square-foot facility will house office space plus a laboratory and greenhouse, Inari said. The company expects to employ about 30 people at the research park by the end of 2019, said Mark Stowers, senior vice president of operations and products. Inari, founded in 2016 by Flagship Pioneering, currently has 65 employees.

“A seed foundry is pretty analogous to an iron or glass foundry,” he explained. “We find the right seed to cast to create genetic variations. We cast genetics like you’d cast in a mold. We’re looking for the right combination of genetics for the next generation of crops.

“We’ve tended to domesticate crops to make them more productive. We can recapture genetic variation to tackle diseases and environmental challenges.”

Seeds developed at the facility will give farmers more options and enhance producer profitability, Stowers noted. “It’s time for agriculture to be disrupted,” he explained.

“Given the current farm economy and cost of inputs, farmers have a big challenge today. Now is the time to change the model. The seed foundry will allow us to develop products with seed companies faster and cheaper than we can today.”

Before deciding on the West Lafayette location, Stowers said Inari looked at areas on the West Coast and in Europe. Purdue’s colleges of agriculture and engineering were factors in the decision to locate near the university, he noted.

“We’ve already had collaboration with some faculty,” Stowers said. “We were pleasantly surprised at the engineering prowess of the school. It’s also an area where we hope to have our first customers.”

Inari CEO Ponsi Trivisvavet said the company is looking forward to tapping into the community and research possibilities at Purdue. “Establishing a base in Indiana will not only allow us to ramp up our product development efforts, but it puts this activity in close proximity to seed companies, which we view as the best partners to reintroduce genetic diversity in agriculture.”

Mitch Daniels, Purdue’s president, said the university and Inari can work together in a variety of areas.

“We are excited to see a Boston-area startup that undertook a national search to find the best place to break new ground in agribusiness decided being near Purdue was the ideal location,” he said. “With joint goals to advance agriculture and provide sustainable food products for people around the world, Inari and Purdue are a natural fit.

“Purdue and Inari can change crop development for the better, making it more diverse, and help address the world’s nutrition and health challenges for decades to come.”