The CABI BioProtection Portal is a ground-breaking online bioprotection resource, available on four continents that has strengthened its ability to promote the worldwide adoption of natural pest control by welcoming BioProtection Global (BPG) as an Associate.
An agreement between CABI and BPG – the worldwide federation of biocontrol and biopesticide industry associations – that will see BPG’s member alliances help to promote the use of the CABI BioProtection Portal around the world.
The BPG’s associations are comprised primarily of manufacturers of biocontrol and biopesticide products for professional use in agriculture, public health, forestry, animal health and other non-crop uses.
It is expected BPG’s influence in the worldwide biocontrol industry will encourage more manufacturers to partner with the CABI BioProtection Portal, which is now available in Spain, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Ghana and Kenya, with more countries including Australia coming soon.
This free-to-use-resource, the CABI BioProtection Portal helps growers and pest management advisors identify, source and correctly apply biocontrol and biopesticide products for their specific crop-pest problems.
Dr Ulrich Kuhlmann, Executive Director, Global Operations at CABI said: “Globally, an estimated 40% of crops are lost to pests and diseases. The widespread use of chemical pesticides to fight crop pests is not sustainable either economically or environmentally in the long run especially when you factor impacts exacerbated by climate change.
“CABI is delighted to welcome BioProtection Global as an associate member as our joint collaboration to promote the benefits of more sustainable pest management will not only benefit growers in the short term but also the environment in the medium to long-term future.”
It is predicted that the CABI BioProtection Portal will become the go-to resource for identifying and sourcing biocontrol and biopesticide products.
It will be particularly beneficial for growers looking to replace chemical pesticides with biological products in order to meet market or export standards, satisfy consumer demands for healthier and safer food and reduce pressures on the environment.
Nicolás Cock Duque, President of BioProtection Global said, “The CABI BioProtection Portal brings together in one place the various safer and more environmentally friendly bioprotection products that growers can add to their ‘arsenal’ against crop pests as part of an integrated pest management plan.”
“We are pleased, as an organisation which seeks to promote bioprotection and the broad adoption of the use of its products in integrated pest management programmes – with respect to human health and the environment to provide a more sustainable and regenerative world – to be in association with CABI and the CABI BioProtection Portal.”
The innovative tool, has been made available by CABI in collaboration with its network of partner biocontrol manufacturers (Koppert Biological Systems, Syngenta, e-nema and Oro Agri).
It also includes donors such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, African Development Bank, the UK Foreign , Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development who provide invaluable support in the form of technical inputs, strategic guidance and funding.
There are a number of very good reasons to use biopesticides and biological controls:
- They are natural and have minimal environmental impact, plus they leave little or no toxic residues so we get cleaner and safer food.
- They can introduce different modes of action to their chemical counterparts, reducing the selection pressure for pesticide resistance.
- Many have zero or very low pre-harvest and re-entry intervals
- Many products are highly specific to the target pest.
- And many are perfectly compatible with standard spray equipment.
Examples include:
Nemaflor® (e-nema) which contains tiny worm-like nematodes that infect and kill pests such as thrips and leaf miners; and Trianum-G (Koppert Biological Systems) which contains a fungus that grows along the roots of plants and protects them from incoming disease.
The BioProtection Portal will be updated with any new products as soon as they are registered, ensuring that users have access to the latest list of registered biocontrol and biopesticide products.
These include Trianum-G: https://www.koppert.co.uk/trianum-g/
Nemaflor: https://www.e-nema.de/products/
e-nema: https://www.e-nema.de/
Koppert Biological Systems: https://www.koppert.com/
Find out more information about the CABI BioProtection Portal and opportunities to get involved at https://bioprotectionportal.com/ and about BioProtection Global at https://www.bioprotectionglobal.org/
