About Us
Mission
To advance plant science discoveries into safe, effective, and long-lasting solutions to crop losses caused by diseases, insects, and weeds.
Vision
A world where all people have food and economic security through access to innovation for environmentally sustainable food systems that use less land, water, and chemicals.
Core Values
Trust
Accountability
Excellence
Creativity
“…whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians together.”
Jonathan Swift, “Gulliver’s Travels”
The Task At Hand
Crop disease and pests are among the most significant threats to our food supply, resulting in global yield reduction by up to 40%, with some diseases causing total crop failures. Crop losses affect both large commercial farms and smallholder farmers, who produce up to 80% of certain staple crops.
Commercial growers rely on improved seeds and crop chemicals to protect their harvests, but these methods are struggling to keep up with threats that are evolving and expanding to new parts of the globe.
Smallholder farmers tend to fare far worse. Unlike commercial growers, they often lack access to resources like improved seed varieties, and chemicals are potentially expensive, potentially counterfeit, and harmful to human health and the environment. As a result, many smallholder farmers end up using poor-performing, decades-old crop varieties that are susceptible to new and emerging pathogens and pests.
Photo Credit: Harun Murithi
Our Purpose
Using a unique non-profit business model, we strive to address the major threats posed by crop pathogens and pests by advancing quality research into crop varieties with demonstrated resilience in the field.
In collaboration with key delivery partners, we combine our deep knowledge in plant pathology with leading expertise in business development to bring new solutions to market, benefiting both large-scale and smallholder growers worldwide.
Our History
2Blades is a 501(c)3 non-profit, agbiotech company.
Since our inception in 2004, we have led the development of over 25 technical advances with more than 50 partners in 20 countries. We have focused our development programs on the most significant diseases of crops important for global food security, such as wheat, potato, cassava, and soybean. Based on 2Blades-supported efforts, new disease resistance options for wheat, soybean, potato, and tomato have been successfully demonstrated in the lab, the greenhouse, and the field.