A powerful alliance! MLS Co., Ltd. partners with two major research institutions to deeply expand into horticultural lighting.

MLS Co., Ltd. Signs Cooperation Agreement with the Institute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

On September 1, MLS Co., Ltd. announced that, in view of the broad market prospects for horticultural lighting and to meet the company's strategic development needs and enhance its industry competitiveness, it recently signed a "Project Cooperation Agreement" with the Institute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences ("China Urban Agriculture Institute").

Guided by technology and driven by market demand, the two parties jointly research LED horticultural lighting solutions and forage cultivation solutions to achieve integrated production and R&D, innovate industry technologies, develop a portfolio of proprietary intellectual property results and technologies, optimize the company's industrial layout, and realize mass production.

According to available information, the Institute of Urban Agriculture of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences is a national-level agricultural research institution established with the approval of the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform, and serves as an important supporting organization for the National Chengdu Agricultural Science and Technology Center. The person in charge is Yang Qichang. Professor Yang Qichang is also an Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Academic Committee of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the chief scientist of the "Smart Horticultural Equipment Innovation Team".

This research institution conducts strategic, cutting-edge, and practical research around major technological needs in the field of urban agriculture. It focuses on addressing a series of critical scientific issues concerning the city-food-resource-human health nexus, and breakthroughs are made in core key technologies such as intelligent horticultural equipment, plant photobiology, resource utilization of organic waste, cultivation and refined extraction of functional plants, and vertical agriculture. The institute strives to achieve a batch of original results in areas including industrialized food production, vertical agriculture, ubiquitous urban plant production, and plants improving human health, aiming to build the world's largest and most influential urban agriculture research institute.

MLS Co., Ltd. and the Institute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences are integrating their respective advantageous resources. MLS provides advanced LED spectrum technology, a robust LED intelligent manufacturing supply chain, and equipment such as LED horticultural lighting growth chambers. The Institute of Urban Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences provides series solutions for LED horticultural lighting and series solutions for forage cultivation. Both parties are committed to scientific project research on optical cultivation solutions related to agricultural planting and breeding, and will carry out corresponding cooperation in the R&D of this project.

The cooperation period is from September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2024. During the cooperation period, the right to apply for patents and the ownership of relevant technical patents formed in the implementation of the cooperation project shall be jointly owned by both parties.

MLS Co., Ltd. stated that the signing of this cooperation agreement is conducive to the company's rapid establishment of a scientific research platform in collaboration with the Chinese Institute of Urban Agriculture. By leveraging its professional research team and R&D platform, the company aims to accelerate the achievement of independent intellectual property rights and industrial implementation in fields such as LED horticultural lighting and forage cultivation. This will broaden the company's layout in the high-end LED lighting sector, achieve rapid development in the field of horticultural lighting, and align with the interests of all shareholders and the company's long-term development strategy.

MLS Co., Ltd. partners with the Plant Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

In addition, a few days ago, MLS Co., Ltd. signed a "Technology Development Contract" with the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (abbreviated as "CAS Plant Center").

Both parties will leverage complementary advantages for mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. Relying on the Chinese Academy of Sciences Plant Center's strong disciplines in basic research and technical fields, and combining the company's technological and industrial strengths in horticultural lighting technology, LED intelligent manufacturing, and LED full-spectrum technology, both sides will carry out technical development activities for the project on screening high-photosynthesis alfalfa varieties and optimizing environmental factors in plant factories. This collaboration is based on mutual trust, with the company providing research funding and LED lighting equipment, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Plant Center providing its expert team, scientific research capabilities, and laboratory facilities.

This project leverages the leading disciplines of the Plant Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to conduct R&D, testing, evaluation, and environmental factor experimental studies on alfalfa photosynthesis in artificial climate chambers. It promotes the integration of production and research between MLS Co., Ltd. and the Plant Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, resulting in a series of achievements and technologies with independent intellectual property rights, which is of significant importance to the company's strategic layout.

After obtaining the preliminary test results, the Plant Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences supported MLS in building an alfalfa plant factory environmental test demonstration cabin based on the test data, and supported MLS in establishing an alfalfa plant factory demonstration project after the tests were completed.

According to available information, the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is a newly established Category IV institution operating as an independent entity, built upon the Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology. Since March 16, 2020, it has been an independent public research institution directly under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The CAS Center for Plant Science focuses on major fundamental scientific issues and technological frontiers in plant genetics, development, physiology, and their interactions with the environment. It conducts original and systematic basic and applied basic research to serve modern agriculture, ecological environments, and public health.

MLS Co., Ltd. stated that both parties will focus on the screening of high-photosynthesis alfalfa varieties and the combined development of environmental factors for plant factories, which can accelerate the transformation of R&D projects into industry applications and achieve the integration of production and research. The cooperation is beneficial for the company's layout in the horticultural lighting market, enhances the R&D strength of its independently innovative products, enriches the company's R&D product line, increases product reserves, further improves the company's core competitiveness, and aligns with the company's development strategy.

Horticultural lighting is a high-end application that MLS Co., Ltd. views very favorably. In the semi-annual report, MLS Co., Ltd. stated that the company is actively establishing close cooperation with relevant stakeholders in the supply chain. By leveraging interdisciplinary synergy across LED (semiconductor) lighting technology, intelligent control technology, and biology, it has developed LED plant factory solutions that meet characteristics such as high-quality and high-yield plant growth. This collaboration marks a significant progress for MLS Co., Ltd. in the field of horticultural lighting and will provide a new engine to boost the company's performance growth.