Global data is forecasting rapid future growth in sales of biological crop protection products, underlining their role as an important component of an integrated approach to crop protection.
But given they’re not a like-for-like replacement for synthetic agrichemicals, there’s a lot for growers to learn about how they integrate into an existing crop protection programme, including how they work, how they’re stored, and at what stage of the pest cycle they achieve best efficacy.
Addressing these and other factors in understanding and integrating biologicals is the focus of a new A Lighter Touch project approved this month. It was developed with extension specialists Scarlatti, and with input from an industry advisory group, which included crop protection companies and product group extension advisors.
The project has three components which will run at the same time, being:
- an initial biologicals extension work with all A Lighter Touch product groups;
- an extension capability needs map; and
- a case study.
Initial biologicals’ extension work with product groups will assist growers and agronomists in learning how to evaluate changes to their crop protection programme. This enables growers to fully understand their existing practice and the impact any change would have before integrating a new practice.
However, extension capability and capacity is a well-recognised gap across many sectors of the industry, so as part of this project A Lighter Touch will work with product groups to support this work being extended to their growers in some way regardless of their extension capability/capacity This in turn will support increasing awareness and knowledge of biologicals amongst growers and advisors regardless of their current industry body’s extension capability or capacity.
A second component of the project is to carry out a gaps analysis of extension capability in the industry, and identify where further capability, resource, and or training is required, and develop a plan to address these gaps.
The case study aspect of the project will look at a biological product which has previously been integrated into a crop protection programme, and will highlight lessons which can feed into an extension plan for the introduction of future biological products.
This work is expected to be completed in 2025. Updates and resources will be added to the project page on the A Lighter Touch website as the project progresses.
