Organic Pesticide And Fungicide Properties In Pine

Certified Organics Looks To Exploit Organic Pesticide And Fungicide Properties In Pine Extracts

Statement made by Earl Stevens, Managing Director, Certified Organics Limited

Certified Organics has contracted the privately owned New Zealand scientific biotechnology research company, BioDiscovery New Zealand Ltd, to further develop the agricultural and industrial potential of the organic pine-extracts which are used to formulate the world’s first certified organic herbicide, Organic Interceptor™.

Our commission to BioDiscovery is to further refine the fungicidal and pesticidal properties of our pine extracts to create an effective range of applications internationally in organic and conventional agriculture. There will also be applications for the home gardener..

The global market for pesticides and fungicides is approximately $25 billion per annum and we see good potential for natural products to replace chemical fungicides and pesticides, given the growing consumer-led resistance to their use on food crops.

We are confident that our pine extracts have these natural organic fungicidal and pesticidal properties, as they are components of the pine trees natural defence mechanisms. We already have laboratory and field evidence indicating that conditions such as botrytis, black spot and a number of mildews, and pests such as thrips and leaf roller, can be controlled using these extracts in various formulations.

The key is focusing on applications that have commercial potential. Being organic, such a fungicide or pesticide would have wide appeal.

Pesticides Board approval is already in place to conduct field trials as part of the process of proving efficacy to obtain commercial registration.

BioDiscovery is uniquely placed to undertake this research.

It excels in high throughput screening techniques, which dramatically reduce the time frame needed to establish the capabilities and properties of organic biological control agents.

BioDiscovery specialises in researching “natural” controls for agricultural pests, and has major contracts with the country’s Crown Research Institutes along with a range of international clients.

It has also patented a number of its own discoveries, including an organic fungicide, which in the first year of field trials has produced “promising control” of botrytis and sour rot in grapes. A second year of field trials is underway.

The research agreement between Certified Organics and BioDiscovery initiates a closer working relationship which will build on the scientific and commercial strengths of both companies, with the intention of keeping the benefits of New Zealand discoveries with New Zealand companies, rather than lose them overseas.

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