The 4 next big technologies in food and agriculture for 2024

The biggest challenge for the global food system is climate change—and growing food is itself a major source of emissions. But innovations in technology are helping farmers adapt to extreme weather by growing crops that are more likely to survive droughts, heat, or floods. Other solutions, like seaweed for cows, can help radically cut the carbon footprint of producing food.

CH4 Global
For making it easier to grow seaweed to fight cow burps
In a year, a single cow can burp 220 pounds of methane, a greenhouse gas that’s more potent than CO2. Feeding seaweed to cattle can help cut those methane emissions by as much as 90%. But growing the type of seaweed that’s needed—a genus called Asparagopsis—is challenging. CH4 Global developed new tech to grow the seaweed affordably so it can be used at scale. In a new facility in Australia, the company will grow enough seaweed to supply up to 30,000 cattle a day.

Pairwise
For “tuning” plant DNA to make crops more resilient
A little more than a decade after the gene editing tool CRISPR came out—making it faster and easier for scientists to precisely edit DNA—Pairwise is taking the tech farther for agriculture. Instead of just turning a gene on or off, it can “tune” plant traits in a more nuanced way. The company is working on foods like pitless cherries, seedless blackberries, and other produce that can appeal more to consumers. But the tool can also help develop crops that are more resilient to climate change and grow more efficiently on less land.

PepsiCo
For helping farmers adapt to climate change
To help tackle the threat that climate change poses to agriculture, PepsiCo developed a new open-source tool for farmers that maps out how extreme heat, flooding, drought, and other extreme weather affects key crops. The tool suggests strategies that can help farmers make their crops more resilient and boost productivity. After launching on farms in Thailand and Vietnam, the tool is now rolling out globally.

Terviva
For helping “supertrees” produce new ingredients
The resilient pongamia tree is sometimes called a “supertree” because it can grow on degraded soil with little water or fertilizer. Terviva developed a method to process beans from the trees to make edible oil and protein—which can be used to help replace less sustainable crops like palm plantations and soybeans. Both palm oil and soy production drive deforestation, adding to emissions. But pongamia trees can be planted on land that was previously cleared, helping restore soil. The company is also using the oil to make biofuels.

The companies behind these technologies are among the honorees in Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech awards for 2024. See a full list of all the winners across all categories and read more about the methodology behind the selection process.