Eden Research Share Discussion Threads

[investingisatrickygame] 26/5/2018 16:09

Super,

Assuming Sumi-Agro has penetrated Bordeaux & the Auxerre/Chablis area with Mevalone sales! Do you know if they have?

[supersonico] 26/5/2018 14:05

More warm and Wet weather in Bordeaux this week. So sad to see all that Humidity.



Oh and Chablis. I do hope those Vineyards are well protected.



Chablis weather bulletin of the day: May 26, 2018
This morning in Chablis (between 5am and 11am), the sky will show a partly cloudy weather with an average temperature of 19 ° C (19 ° C felt). The wind will be around 12 km / h. The sky will be rather uncertain with a risk of rain announced at 59%. The humidity will be 86%.
Today, in the afternoon, the weather in Chablis will be partly cloudy. Regarding the temperatures, it will be necessary to count on a maximum of 27 ° C for 29 ° C felt. The wind in Chablis meanwhile will be east-southeast with a maximum speed of 16km / h. Side precipitation, a lot of uncertainties with a risk of 34%. The humidity will be around 76%.
In the evening, after 19h, it will be expected a light showers with storms with average temperatures on Chablis of 24 ° C for 26 ° C felt. Wind level, it will be 17km / h from the east-southeast. Should we expect rain on Chablis? With a high probability of 75%, we can expect 0.7 mm of rain. The humidity of the air tonight will be 85%.

[attyg] 25/5/2018 16:50

Sad to be ticking up your post above super, but good news for us I hope.

[supersonico] 25/5/2018 14:20

Oh Dear;

Alain Deloire
‏@alaindeloire

Downy Mildew on Sauvignon Gris #grapevine. A problem in Languedoc wine region this year due to rain and temperatures

[supersonico] 25/5/2018 08:05

Study uncovers cause of pesticide exposure, Parkinson's link
Low-level exposure to the pesticides disrupts cells in a way that mimics the effects of mutations known to cause Parkinson's disease.

Date: May 23, 2018
Source:University of Guelph

Summary:
Previous studies have found an association between two commonly used agrochemicals (paraquat and maneb) and Parkinson's disease. Now a professor has determined that low-level exposure to the pesticides disrupts cells in a way that mimics the effects of mutations known to cause Parkinson's disease. Adding the effects of the chemicals to a predisposition for Parkinson's disease drastically increases the risk of disease onset.

[supersonico] 23/5/2018 23:15

Protect the pomegranate !!2018



3LOGY, EPIK SL and EVOLUTION: the three specialties of Sipcam Italia now also on pomegranate
The cultivation of the Pomegranate is proving a growing interest witnessed by the constant increase in the areas invested.

In the field there are several adversities to be managed to ensure a good production both from the quantitative and qualitative point of view, among these surely there are Botrytis cinerea, gray mold agent, aphids and cochineals and undesired suckers.

Sipcam Italia has recently obtained, on three crop protection products, exemptions for phytosanitary emergency situations to combat the key adversities of this crop:

3LOGY (Regulation No. 16480 of 16/03/2016) authorized to use for the control of gray mold on pomegranate, for a period of 120 days, from 15 June to 12 October 2018;

3LOGY is a combination of three new active ingredients with low release, eugenol, geraniol and thymol, which expose their action towards the fungus with an original and new mechanism of action.

The natural encapsulation technology allows the modulated release of the active ingredients in the presence of conditions that favor the development of the disease.

[supersonico] 22/5/2018 21:50

Truthyness and Incongruence LOL

[investingisatrickygame] 18/5/2018 10:44

I'm just looking at this RNS

in conjunction with this hxxp://www.edenresearch.com/investors/corporate-governance

What led me to this was when Sean said on the Proactive video about the team and how small it is. Surely Eden needs to broaden its Executive team without overloading the Company with undue or irrelevant cost. The new Chairman and Mr Cridland represent the remuneration committee. With all due respect, there is not going to be too much resistance there, is there! Maybe it is time Sipcam put someone on the BoD as is their right to do so.

When I look at those nil cost options awarded as per the above RNS, they vest for 7 years; yes, 7 years. Where is the time incentive to get a move on there? The first potential awards don't exercise until the 30th September 2019 earliest and the price target is only 20 pence for 50% of the options.

All of this screams 'we are not in a hurry' and why would you be with such a lowly target and two years to get there. 20 pence will still only value the company at £40 million and that is still below most institutional thresholds for investing.

I hope that the Sipcam/Eden 'very far advanced' statement becomes reality for those 20 ingredients and very soon. That to me could put fireworks under the share price and raise the possibility of either

A) those share options never getting the chance to kick in or
B) a much, much higher share price than today, thus rewarding shareholders in the short to mid -term and the Directors can then continue to work towards their options.

[supersonico] 18/5/2018 07:58

Assessment of monitoring of bee mortalities by the DGAL (Ministry of Agriculture)



Pathologies, poor beekeeping practices and famine: the true causes of clearly identified bee mortalities

The 2015 conclusions of the official mechanism for monitoring bee disorders by the services of the Ministry of Agriculture are clear and unambiguous: it is indeed health and nutritional factors that explain the mortality of bees. We can therefore prioritize factors by importance: 1- Pathologies 2- Beekeeping practices 3- Lack of food resources and 4- Phytosanitary products.
In terms of the health of the bee population, the analysis of the annual report of the surveys carried out by the State services is rich in lessons. These surveys follow reports of acute colony mortality. In 2015, 195 alerts were recorded in 52 departments, which represents a sharp increase in reports compared to previous years and therefore implies a greater reliability and representativeness of the problems encountered on the ground by beekeepers.

Varroa, number one enemy of bees.

Nearly 4 out of 10 investigations concluded that pathologies were definitely responsible for explaining the observed mortalities. It is essentially the insufficiency, or even the complete absence, of fight against Varroa which explains this situation. "Given the profile of varroa and its role in weakening the immune system of the bee and its role as a vector of other pathogens, including viruses, this recurring finding is alarming and calls for concrete and rapid action on the part of beekeepers "according to Fayçal Meziani, expert national expert" beekeeping, pathology of bees "at the DGAL (Directorate General of Food - Ministry of Agriculture) *.

Poor beekeeping practices in the dock.

It is not very politically correct to mention the quality of beekeeping practices. If, fortunately, a large majority of beekeepers manage their beekeeping livestock with care and attention, it is clear that bad practices persist. According to the expert from the DGAL, this is indeed another recurring finding. And far from being marginal, it explains about 1 out of 7 (14%) deaths. Specifically, it is the fight against varroa with unapproved mite products or "homemade granny remedies", poor wintering preparations, cooled brood, food shortage and depopulation at the end of the season. winter ... For Fayçal Meziani, "these practices cause high mortality observed within the colonies visited." *
When will a national strategy against Varroa?
Present in Europe since 1982, Varroa is the main threat to bees. "When a strategy of collective struggle is conducted, the results are there" explains Philippe Lecompte, President of the Biodiversity Network for Bees. "In the Marne, where a collective fight is organized, the mortality of bees related to varroa remain at reasonable rates of the order of 9 to 13% depending on the year," he continues. In its annual conclusions, the DGAL makes no secret of the need for such a strategy against this parasitic mite.

Bees continue to starve.

After pathologies, poor apicultural practices and the desertion phenomena of hives whose cause is also found in diseases, famine is another worrying factor for beekeepers. For the past ten years, the Biodiversity Network for Bees has been constantly alerting the public authorities to this issue, the responses of which are still insufficient. "Why the greening of the CAP, supposed to be an environmental tool, has sounded the death knell of the fallow premium beekeeping or honeydew" questions Philippe Lecompte. There is an urgent need to implement mechanisms to promote the development of a food resource adapted to the needs of bees, ie a resource in sufficient quantity throughout the season, with a diversity of species and a nutrient quality of high pollen. In addition to fallow land, the elements of the landscape to be mobilized are multiple: hedges, forest edges, edges of fields, grass strips along the rivers ...
Pesticides, we talk a lot about them. No doubt too much!
The responsibility for plant protection products due to intoxications leading to bee mortalities again appears to be very limited. According to the balance sheet of the DGAL, these cases only concern 4% of the mortality cases. Among the substances pointed at the finger, Spinosad emerges. It is an insecticide used in organic farming. Professional organic beekeeper, Philippe Lecompte recognizes that "the organic label in agriculture does not mean an absence of risk on the health of the bees, nor the presence of a floral resource for the bees". The results of these surveys also indicate that waxes are the main matrix of long-term contamination. Indeed, there are phenomena of accumulation of toxic waxes since the degradation of residues is very slow. Thus, 5 years are necessary for a wax to lose 50% of the residues of fluvalinate, an anti-Varroa solution placed directly in the heart of the hives, but also used as an insecticide in agriculture to control the rape seed moths.

According to the Biodiversity Network for Bees, it is time to come to the obvious and take note of the results of these surveys which, year after year, show continuity and coherence in their conclusions. Therefore, why continue to refuse to face reality by maintaining a clearly disproportionate focus on pesticides and stubbornly refusing to treat the real issues, starting with the fight against Varroa by accompanying beekeepers with training adapted to an increasingly complex job. Phytosanitary product poisoning exists. It must of course be answered but without making it the tree that hides the forest. "It is before all beekeepers who have to bear the consequences of these bad choices" recalls Philippe Lecompte.

"France continues to lose its bees when other countries develop their livestock, comparable environmental situation. 2016 is a dark year for the entire industry. This is the worst of our history. There are countless beekeepers who put the key under the door. Domestic production collapsed to 8,000 tons. It's urgent. We are already in the wall but now we have to get out and rebuild, "he concludes.
................

[supersonico] 18/5/2018 05:28

Pesticide resistance needs attention, large-scale study



For new answers to the problems of increased pesticide resistance, landscape-level study is needed, NC State researchers say. Credit: Roger Winstead, NC State University
To slow the evolutionary progression of weeds and insect pests gaining resistance to herbicides and pesticides, policymakers should provide resources for large-scale, landscape-level studies of a number of promising but untested approaches for slowing pest evolution. Such landscape studies are now more feasible because of new genomic and technological innovations that could be used to compare the efficacy of strategies for preventing weed and insect resistance.

That's the takeaway recommendation from a North Carolina State University review paper addressing pesticide resistance published today in the journal Science.
Pesticide resistance exacts a tremendous toll on the U.S. agricultural sector, costing some $10 billion yearly. Costs could also increasingly accrue on human lives. If insecticide-coated bed nets and complementary insecticide spraying failed to slow the transmission of malaria by pesticide-resistant mosquitoes, for example, the human health costs in places like Africa could be catastrophic.
"What is the impact on people if these herbicides and pesticides run out?" said Fred Gould, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Agriculture at NC State and the corresponding author of the paper. "Resistance to pesticides is rising in critical weed and insect species, threatening our ability to harness these pests. Weed species have evolved resistance to every class of herbicide in use, and more than 550 arthropods have resistance to at least one pesticide."

Consider glyphosate, the powerhouse weed killer used ubiquitously in the United States to protect major crops like corn and soybeans. A bit more than 20 years ago, crops were genetically engineered to withstand glyphosate, allowing them to survive exposure to the chemical while weeds perished. By 2014, some 90 percent of planted U.S. corn, soybean and cotton crops were genetically modified to withstand glyphosate. Unfortunately, as the evolutionary arms race progresses, many weeds have figured out how to evolve resistance to glyphosate, making the chemical increasingly ineffective and forcing farmers to look for other or new solutions.

Some of these "new" solutions are actually old, as the herbicides 2,4-D and Dicamba, developed in the 1940s and 1960s, respectively, are currently getting a second look as possible widespread weed weapons.
"We're working down the list of available tools to fight weeds and insect pests," said Zachary Brown, assistant professor of agricultural and resource economics at NC State and a co-author of the paper. "It hasn't been economically feasible to develop new herbicides to replace glyphosate, for example, so what's old is becoming new again. But the current incentives don't seem to be right for getting us off this treadmill."

Besides ecology and economics, the authors stress that sociological and political perspectives also set up roadblocks to solving the problems of pest resistance. Cultural practices by farmers—whether they till their land or not, how they use so-called refuges in combination with genetically modified crop areas and even how often they rotate their crops—all play a big role in pest resistance.
"Any proposed solutions also need to include perspectives from the individual farmer, community and national levels," said Jennifer Kuzma, Goodnight-NC GSK Foundation Distinguished Professor and co-author of the paper.

The authors propose large-scale studies that would test the efficacy of a particular pesticide resistance strategy in one large area—thousands of acres or more—and how weeds and crop yields compare to large "control" areas that don't utilize that particular strategy. Farmers would receive incentives to participate; perhaps subsidies already allocated to farmers could be shifted to provide these participatory incentives, the authors suggest.

More information: "Wicked evolution: Can we address the sociobiological dilemma of pesticide resistance?" Science (2018). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.aar3780
..........................................................

Switzerland to vote on pesticide ban 'in 3 years'

[attyg] 17/5/2018 19:28

Well done devereaux. I'm sure you will look back and recognise that was a good decision to buy.

[devereaux] 17/5/2018 19:06

For anybody interested please note that the 100,000 trade listed at 17.08 today and described as a sale was a purchase of mine at16.08
Just reporting this in the interests of truth.
Devereaux

[investingisatrickygame] 17/5/2018 17:12

PR firms such as Powerscourt will likely cost Eden £3,000-£4,000 a month (I've spent time with them - not Powerscourt)

I was once told that city PR firms don't really get investor communications and do not have the time, resources or knowledge to execute the same. Also in relation to me, one thing they said was they would not let me in the door because they want to protect their subscription income. I appreciated that comment and others, but please don't think this is a bragg. I am just trying to illustrate their reasoning. This was from a top 5 City based Financial PR firm.

I don't buy that value will automatically out in time from future income derived. Cheap takeovers occur when company's cannot establish value. That could happen to Eden now and they would be up in arms about a lowly offer. That would then reflect badly on management because management did not communicate and establish value in the share price. Everyone would then lose out and they would scramble around in such an event to try and encourage us not to accept such an offer and mysteriously, then choose to explain real value.

Finally, you cannot expect all investors to intrinsically understand the values sat within a balance sheet, a P & L and future potential as per commentary. That does not preclude investors from investing, but it may explain their financial commitment. One man's £500 may be another man's £50,000. They both deserve the same explanations. Expecting them to unravel the accounts to seek the value is not what the principles of an AIM listed company should do. Eden is on AIM for a reason and will be here for much longer if they do not take the time to explain the Company in full and inbetween financial reporting.

Maybe the Directors have never had this experience being on the BoD of an AIM company and so defer to their advisors. However, many AIM investors are very familiar with the trials and tribulations of the same and have valid experience to both comment on and offer (in certain circumstances) such companies

[paulpaolo] 17/5/2018 14:50

All true, but the story will tell itself in time the through future income showing in the accounts. Maybe they don't pay that PR firm much. Most PR firms and corporate comms depts don't understand anything "complicated" , by the eay.

[investingisatrickygame] 17/5/2018 12:02

paulpaolo,

Eden is extremely interesting to those that follow it with great interest, but I doubt their whole share register does and some will only be in it for a quick buck. There is possibly a small number of people that think Eden is the wholly grail and as such are very knowledgeable on the Company and is willing them to do well.

Given that Eden is very interesting and maybe not your run of the mill investment prospect they should convey how interesting Eden is and their prospects. They totally fail to do that. There should be far more interest in Eden right now and the shares should be far more lively to the positive. How can you be a commercial company which Eden are, revenues coming in and with game changing tech for the agro-chemical industry and sit at a lowly £26 million market cap? If people read/research what Eden do and like the story the first thing they will then do is look at price and value and that will immediately raise questions as to why it is so low. They will then look at management and communications and then they might look at advisors and their role.

It is very disappointing to me that Powerscourt has not had more impact on Eden given all the braggs on the Powerscourt website. They may have secured some analysts meetings, but what else? They also appear to have had little influence in 'change' with Eden. Eden's prospect base still is private investors. Some may see me/this post as moaning or being critical of the Company, but the reality is that the trend with Eden is consistent and nothing is changing for the investor or prospective investor. Investors cannot continually have faith when a Company doesn't deliver and the only delivery the investor is interested in or even invested in, is the share price.

I have been invested in companies before where management keep PI's at arms length and choose to ingratiate themselves with their professional investors. The story is great, but the delivery is poor. My personal experiences of this has been that the various BoD's are uncertain around social/business media and tend to stray away from the same. The PR companies continue to do what they do historically for their monthly subscription delivering zero results. They are a very expensive, non- productive, nice to have.

I was also hoping that we would have heard more from our newly appointed Chairman and ex Bayer senior employee. To-date, he has been silent with the exception of his commentary in the prelims. I appreciate that (hopefully) he is proving invaluable internally and supplier side. That said, he has a weighty CV and Eden should be using this to their advantage and to the advantage of the share price which is likely so far behind where is should be relative to commercial productivity and progression. Why has the Chairman not stepped forward in a delivery to investors (private and all)to elaborate on his appointment, decision making for the same and the immediate and mid-term prospects as he see's them. Also some discussion and opinion around value. Surely this would invigorate the share price. Equally, with all this EU chemical pesticide fuss, why is Powerscourt not promoting him to the press given his stature. To be fair, they may have done so with zero success, but I imagine that unlikely. Assuming they haven't, why did Eden not call all of the recent journalists who ran the same story and invite them to H/O or Powerscourt's office to introduce Eden to them and the tremendous headway Eden is making on a global scale.

There is so much that Eden and Powerscourt could do to the positive, without egg on their face and without immense time. Allowing for the regulatory process and the time that takes, Eden must have time in their calendar to consider and employ the same.

Eden is VERY interesting, it is just a shame that more people are not aware of it.

[paulpaolo] 16/5/2018 21:42

I remember about a year ago, some people thought the licensing of the botrytis treatment in France had no chance of being done in time for the 2017 growing season, eden had fallen silent about it. Suddenly I spotted a tiny little article in the "mail in sunday" quite casually saying that that licence had been granted. There was no RNS before that e.g. the friday evening before that newspaper article at all.. I could scarce believe that eden could be so coy about their own success. They had shortly before that cautioned investors that licensing is slow especially in France. I think new nuclear design licensing in Britain is way slower, ditto aircraft (wider licensing for planes than just one country) , but Sean Smith wouldn't know about those. I posted news of the MonSunday article immediately on the BBs that Sunday , possibly on this one, can't recall. So based on past experience the grant of nit licences in UK and USA may creep up on us quietly like a thief in the night, don't expect ANY advance warning from Eden of good progress. We never hear more of that deodorant, do we? Whether or not the shares do well, I do find Eden a very interesting and optimistic firm in terms of what it may be able to do for humanity. It is definitely an ethical investment as compared to the filthy oil and mining based AIM firms.

[northwick] 16/5/2018 18:16

I wouldn't hold my breath on the Nit licence any time soon. I was told at the last Agm that this was imminent! Well that was nearly 12 months ago. We are no closer to knowing it's fate. Like everything else we are not told the whole truth. Last year's 1/2 yearly accounts comes to mind. eden needs to improve its communications badly.

[paulpaolo] 16/5/2018 17:36

Excellent analysis investingisatrickygame. I don't think Sean could reasonably have said all that you suggest, or like me he would have been accused of including too much detail in his comms; but yes, to half of what you say about what he might usefully have said. I think the truth will out in time even with poor comms, but I do hope they can tell a little more of their positive and multi-faceted story either in a side comm to the 22nd may final results for 2017 (they tend to snick out any other current news), or with the agm pack in June. I would like to hear when the UK nit licence might be granted, as before they said end Q2 was the target, also news of the deodorant product that has only been fleetingly mentioned so far. As Sean said they have almost finalised a distribution partner for the USA nit product, i hope the licensing of that also targetted previously for Q2 2018 (end of june) must at least be going well even if running a bit late.

[investingisatrickygame] 16/5/2018 17:10

Glyphosate again

[attyg] 16/5/2018 15:53

Interesting comments.
I guess in hindsight Sean may feel he could have improved upon the presentation, then again one rarely gets everything right in the eye of every viewer.
I thought it was a good slot, especially as an intro to Eden, but what we can do with are follow up communications - which I know you have long advocated.
Good to see it eventually on the website, and worthwhile watching a few times.

[investingisatrickygame] 16/5/2018 14:58

I watched the Proactive video again which is now 8 weeks old today. Here are some observations

1) Early on Sean is asked about Mevalone and discusses its value for the grape market. It would have been good to have re-iterated the global losses to botrytis for grapes and also the value globally of solutions to this problem. Both these numbers Eden has publicly quoted before
2)As above with Lachlan and Roses
3)When explaining the 'chemicals' found in plants natural defence mechanisms he doesn't respond saying Eden is 'The Natural Solution' as is the strapline on their website. Something that probably should have been emphasized for clarity. He touches on it later, but without sufficient emphasis given all of the dynamics at EU regulatory level as we have seen lately with chemical pesticides
4)He states that crop protection is the most highly regulated market outside of human therapeutics. Given the time lapse from registration to approval, this may have been a good opportunity to explain why he chose to speak with Proactive Investors at the time that he did. This would help shareholders understand his mindset on communication
5)He mentions that Mevalone is typically used at the end of the growing season and this is when he is talking about the US and EPA approval. Again, it may have been informative to explain when the end of their season is (if there is just one season, probably targeting California anyway)
6) It is not until 5 minutes in that he smiles and therefore makes himself more receptive to his audience
7)Never once does the interviewer ask about market size (Sean does quote the Nematode market size as $1.8 billion) in the various markets that Sean explains that they could in part satisfy. This is very important so as to give an understanding of the size of the prize
8)Given Sipcam is an 'excellent partner to have' they could have explored this further to better illustrate the strategy employed
9)When talking about cash in the bank and burn rate (£3.7 million and £1.4 million p.a) he could have stated that this position will be growing because of all the product sales, milestone payments and royalties that will occur during the year. Doing so would have put a clear floor under the cash proposition, no need for placings, corporate sales success
10) When asked about who else works at the Company, he didn't mention the new Chairman. Given his previous pedigree, that was the opportunity to wrap up with an effective buy signal as we (Eden) have brought in a heavyweight and guess what, we are about to commercialise a deal with Bayer, the largest Life Sciences company in the world and in a division he previously ran. That would have been a very strong finish to the interview and would have indicated to potential investors an awful lot.

I understand the way Proactive do their interviews and time spent. I still think Eden could have planned this better, scripted the same, created a start, a middle and an end so there was logical delivery of the Company, its people, its products, patents, markets, successes, strategic partners, current and future commercial partners immediate opportunities, future opportunities and views on share price and market capitalisation.

This is all easy to do if you a) wish to do so b) know what you're doing and c) who you are targeting and with what purpose

Sean does explain things quite well, is pretty much free of jargon, but structurally, the interview is all wrong. That's the Proactive format. It would have been nice if Powerscourt had given Eden some guidance on 'how to' as part of their efforts to assist Eden and their share price.

[attyg] 16/5/2018 11:35

I have looked up the status of the six companies listed by Eden as their green competition in the Admission Document. Three have been taken over (soon after the Eden was admitted to AIM)- one each by Bayer, Monsanto and Syngenta for multiple hundreds of millions of $/€.
One is languishing as a tiny organisation but with quite a good website, one I can't locate and the final one remains private but is substantial in sales revenue (£70m) and yields £2m in dividends.
I haven't bothered looking up the head lice competition.

[northwick] 16/5/2018 11:26

Until we get some positive news, which hopefully will be sooner rather than later, the share price will languish at this levels. MM are offering shares close to 13p today. It is a pity that the finance director sold when he did. All the momentum in the share price has been ebbed away. and in the process the company has lost close to £3m in its Market value.

[weyweyumfozo] 16/5/2018 10:55

The breakout is being backtested at this level - really needs to bounce from 12.5p.