BASF Expanding Biological Product Line Pt 1
I'm Bob Larson. Call it a bandwagon, call it a trend, call it a wildfire, biologicals in farming are catching on. So, as consumers demanded food with fewer chemical residues, while preserving the effectiveness of their pest control tools, companies are discovering the power of biological crop protection.
At the Potato Expo in Orlando, Florida, I spoke with BASF product manager Mila Pearce about their most recent endeavor with a new biofungicide called Serifel ...
MILA PEARCE ... "This is our first product that is a foliar. We're going to get registration, hopefully this spring for soil applications as well. And, the thing that we're most proud about that's going to separate us in the market is our formulation. True to BASF's tradition of creating chemistry and being a stickler for detail, we took the same approach with biologicals and we made sure that the formulation was right so that it would have the best results in the field."
Pearce says BASF is taking biologicals very seriously ...
MILA PEARCE ... "BASF took a huge investment in biologicals. We've got a library of over 4,000 organisms that they're constantly scanning looking for new approaches that our future product line is looking very promising. We have several , not only biofungicides, but nemetostats, nemetocides, seed treatments, you name it, we've got some things coming down the pipeline."
Pearce says like with all products, proper stewardship is vital for biological effectiveness.
But, these products have proven to help reduce the damage caused by diseases and pests including fungi and disease-causing bacteria.
Listen tomorrow for more on this new trend in crop protection.
