Increasing grower uptake of biological crop protection products will require industry collaboration, regulatory change, and more education about their use – all focus areas for A Lighter Touch.
The need for collaboration, regulatory reform and greater understanding of the use of biological products were key takeaways from the inaugural Brisbane Biologicals Summit, attended by ALT Programme Manager Sarah Sorensen last month.
“It really highlighted the biologicals work A Lighter Touch has underway is heading in the right direction to support a grower shift to greater use of biological products, which in turn support a lighter approach to crop protection,” Sarah says.
“Our ALT regulatory pathway project is focused on identifying ways to accelerate access to biological products in New Zealand. Our biologicals awareness and integration work is about growing understanding of biologicals, how they work and how to incorporate them into an existing crop protection programme. And as an industry-government partnership, working with scientists, crop protection companies and industry partners, ALT is all about collaboration.”
Sarah also presented to the summit, providing an overview the biologicals awareness and integration and the regulatory pathway projects, as well as various other ALT projects trialling biological products.
Programme Manager Sarah Sorensen presents about A Lighter Touch to the Brisbane Biological Summit.
The Brisbane biologicals summit was hosted by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) with the support of Wharf 42, the organisers of the Salinas Biologicals Summit. Biosecurity, horticulture and arable researchers, government representatives and biological product developers from New Zealand and Australia attended.
Attendees were told the pipeline for new synthetic chemical crop protection solutions was shrinking due to increasing regulatory restrictions and scientific challenges in discovering new modes of action and target proteins.
Regulatory bodies, such as those supporting the European Green Deal, are encouraging the use of biologicals over chemicals. In addition, large multi-national retailers are imposing stricter regulations on pesticide use than governments, pushing the industry towards the use of alternative control tools, such as biologicals. However, the industry is struggling with slow adoption of these alternatives and the lengthy regulatory approval process.
The summit discussed the barriers which have hampered the adoption of biological products as an alternative to synthetic chemistry. Commercialisation of biological products has been slow due to challenges in proving efficacy, securing regulatory approval, and integrating into existing farming systems.
Other barriers have included cost, challenges with the ability to scale up use from the lab to the field, and a lack of awareness or knowledge of how to use biological products effectively in horticultural systems, factors which emphasise the importance of involving growers in research design to ensure real-world applicability and adoption.
Like New Zealand, Australia has seen a decline in government-funded extension programmes. As a result, knowledge transfer is now heavily reliant on private companies and industry networks, with knowledge and expertise from research organisations also reducing as scientists retire. This was another dynamic speaking to the importance of industry-wide collaboration.
Demonstration sites like the Pukekohe Research and Demonstration Farm, part of the A Lighter Touch programme, is seen as best practice to extend knowledge to growers.
The concept of a “Farm of the Future” was discussed at the summit, highlighting the need for pilot or demonstration farms to showcase to other growers how sustainable agricultural practices, including biologicals, can be successfully implemented.
With demonstration farms, orchards and vineyards being a key element of extension for A Lighter Touch, Sarah says it was great to see that this aspect of the programme is considered the best practice approach to extend to growers.
“Overall, what came through clearly was globally the same problems are standing in the way of availability of biological products and increasing grower adoption of their use. It is heartening for New Zealand that we are already taking action to address many of these barriers, where some other countries have yet to progress towards solutions,” she says.
