Share of biorationals continues to grow

Many growers don't even realize it, but many products that they sometimes use for years in a row are biorationals: registered plant protection products of natural origin. "They are an important part of modern crop protection and food production," says crop manager Edwin Hendriks of Certis.

Certis has been the market leader in green resources for Dutch agriculture and horticulture for many years and the portfolio continues to grow. Since its foundation, almost 30 years ago, the company has been developing and supplying both conventional crop protection products and biorationals. "Even our company's predecessors developed natural remedies in the 70s, such as a Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-preparation against caterpillars", says Hendriks. "Such preparations are still in our portfolio, just think of Turex and CoStar."

Famous names
Another old acquaintance is Oil-H† "Slug pellets such as Iroxx, Derrex and Molluxx, our fungal preparation against insects Botanigard, but also Karma, Kumar, ERII, NEMguard DE and Biox-M are biorationals with a familiar sound and a growing group of users," continues the crop manager. "A lot of products will be added in the coming years."

Purveyor to Skal
The rise of green agents cannot be seen in isolation from the steady decline of conventional chemical agents. Biorationals usually fit well into integrated and organic farming systems. Many Certis green products therefore have a Skal approval. Hendriks: "An advantage of biorationals is their suitability for sustainability labels such as Planet Proof and for the European Farm-to-Fork strategy. This also makes them a foundation for modern crop protection and food production." 

Knowledge development
The effective application of biorationals sometimes requires a little more knowledge and experience. That is why Certis has technical specialists in house, such as Maarten van der Marel. "What distinguishes biorationals from conventional drugs is the very specific mechanism of action", explains Van der Marel. "In addition to knowledge of diseases and pests, thorough product knowledge is required to achieve maximum results. With field demonstrations and trials in the Certis Innovation Center, we are building up knowledge that we share with our distributors and users. Biorationals are increasingly central to this."

Recent Admissions
Recent admissions of biorationals are Kumar against fungi and NEMguard DE against carrot fly. The latter already had a permit against nematodes. Van der Marel: "Kumar is an effective fungicide based on potassium hydrogen carbonate for open field crops. It fights, among other things, powdery mildew and downy mildew in lettuce, chicory, chicory roots and cabbage crops. Knowledge of the product is also important here. The formulation already contains adhesives and wetting agents, so don't add any more, and don't acidify the spraying solution either, as a high pH is necessary for proper operation."

The number of available agents against carrot fly is limited and not all agents may or cannot be used everywhere. NEMguard DE is effective against both carrot fly and nematodes. "Kumar and NEMguard both fall under Skal and provide a bonus point for Planet Proof, so that's a nice bonus", the technical specialist concludes enthusiastically.