TRADE ASSOCIATE MEMBER UPDATE
AGRAQUEST
Harnessing nature to increase producer
yields
With an increasing emphasis on sustainability and environmental
concerns, today's growers are looking for ways to keep pests and disease
at bay while using as few chemical products as necessary.
FFVA Trade Associate Member AgraQuest can help. AgraQuest is known
for its line of biochemicals, which essentially use tools found in
nature to battle insects, bacteria, fungi and diseases.
"I like to tell people that most pesticides are chemicals and they're
made in a factory," said Sarah Reiter, AgraQuest's director of Global
Marketing. "Bio-pesticides are equally efficacious. They work just as
well, but instead of using a chemical factory to produce compounds, we
use things like beneficial bacteria. So in effect we harness the power
of nature to make our compounds."
Florida is an important market for AgraQuest. A big seller is Sonata,
a fungicide that battles mildew in cucurbits and some fruiting vegetable
crops. Serenade, the company's flagship fungicide, also is used to
control bacteria in tomatoes and peppers. "We sell Serenade in
Florida with a reduced rate of copper
so that the farmer can regulate the amount they put into the soil.
Serenade is both a fungicide and a bactericide, which makes it a little
bit unusual in the fungicide market,” said Reiter.
Another popular product with Florida producers is the insecticide
Requiem, widely used in tomatoes and peppers, predominately for thrips
control. Reiter points out that Requiem stands out because it knows the
difference between the bad insects and the good ones. "The University of
Florida recommends
a program that includes minute pirate bugs
(http://erec.ifas.ufl.edu/tomato-scouting-guide/bugs/minute-pirate-bug.shtml)
as a beneficial insect,” Reiter said. “Requiem
is extremely safe to minute pirate bugs. So
you can use it to kill the thrips, but it leaves the minute pirate bugs
to work as allies in your control program."
Requiem also is a contact insecticide, which means thrips start to
die in as little as 12 hours. But it also has a longer-standing effect
on the crop in that the insects no longer recognize it as a good place
to harbor.
A new product that should be in the Florida market soon is Serenade Soil,
a soil fungicide based on the active ingredients of Serenade. It goes
into the soil at planting time or during the growing season and kills
bacteria, which results in impressive yields.
"It's really exciting in that it kills a broad spectrum of soil
diseases. But it also encourages the plant to defend itself," Reiter
said. When Serenade Soil is applied at planting, the beneficial bacteria
quickly attack soil diseases, while rapidly colonizing (is there a
preposition missing here? in? around? at?) the seedling and root. Once
colonized, the bacteria produce compounds that not only continue
attacking soil diseases, they also trigger metabolic pathways to
activate the plant’s natural defenses and modulate growth. The
Environmental Protection Agency recently registered Serenade Soil for
all fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplant,
in cucurbits and in all root vegetables
such as potatoesand sweet potatoes.
It is expected to be approved for Florida any day now.
AgraQuest's mission is: "Delivering innovative, clean solutions for
better food and a safer world." The company provides extensive
information about its vision, culture and products on its Web site. Or contact AgraQuest at 1540 Drew Ave., Davis, CA
95618, (530)
750-0150.