Dartmouth-based agtech company CoteX Technologies has formed a partnership with agribusiness giant Nutrien to jointly explore commercializing an environmentally friendly coating for fertilizer.

The two companies issued a joint press release last week saying they’d signed a memorandum of understanding under which they would work on an affordable coating for nitrogen fertilizer for large-acreage farms in North America.

CoteX has developed a low-cost coating for fertilizers that releases the ingredients slowly to minimize their environmental impact. The company says the process reduces greenhouse gas emissions and eliminates potential residual material.

“This MOU is a big step forward for the global agriculture industry,” CoteX CEO Santosh Yadav said in a statement. “We are thrilled to partner with Nutrien to explore the application of our product and the impact for the market.”

Nutrien is the world's largest provider of crop inputs, which are such products as fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides. The Saskatoon-based company’s sales in the 12 months ending June 30 were $33 billion.

The two companies said more than 110 million tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer are applied to crops worldwide every year. Controlled release nitrogen fertilizer delivers this important crop nutrient while helping to minimize losses to runoff into waterways and diminish greenhouse gas emissions.

Said Trevor Williams, President of Nitrogen and Phosphates at Nutrien: “This innovation has the potential to substantially increase efficiency in nitrogen application which will help farmers increase yield potential in a sustainable way.”