CABI News

news_story_bioprotection_portal

This partnership will help CABI to increase global reach and uptake of the free tool and enhance awareness and uptake of biocontrol and biopesticide products.

The CABI BioProtection Portal has welcomed Biobest as a partner. This is great news for the development of the free-to-use tool which promotes awareness and uptake of biocontrol and biopesticide products, and the industry as a whole.

A ground-breaking online bioprotection resource which is available on four continents, the CABI BioProtection Portal helps growers and agricultural advisors to identify, source and correctly apply biocontrol and biopesticide products against problematic pests in their crops.

Biobest is an expert in biological control and pollination in greenhouse and berry crops, with over 30 years experience in the field and a particular focus on strong Research and Development (R&D). For example, in 1987 the company was the first to put bumblebees on the market. It has also innovated with products, such as, Nutrimite™, to stimulate predator populations in crops, and Flying Doctors® Hive, which carefully spreads biopesticides or precollected pollen. Being an important player in the field of IPM, Biobest stands out by providing growers worldwide with best-in-class customized technical advice.

This partnership will help CABI increase the geographical spread of the CABI BioProtection Portal, which can be accessed on multiple devices, thereby putting this valuable information at the fingertips of more people who need it.

Biobest – which joins existing partners, including Syngenta, Koppert Biological Systems, e-nema, Oro Agri, Applied Bio-nomics and Idai Nature – will now be part of the portal’s Development Consortium that guides the ongoing development of the CABI BioProtection Portal – sponsored by Nespresso – including adding more countries to the tool.

Dr Ulrich Kuhlmann, Executive Director, Global Operations at CABI said: “CABI is delighted to welcome Biobest as a partner of our global initiative to promote the uptake of more sustainable pest management, by providing information about practical solutions to growers and advisory services.

“I believe that CABI and Biobest share the same values and are both striving to contribute to the implementation of sustainable agriculture worldwide. Through Biobest’s membership in the Development Consortium, they will have the opportunity to jointly decide on the strategic direction of the CABI BioProtection Portal.”

It is predicted that the CABI BioProtection Portal will become the go-to resource for identifying and sourcing biocontrol and biopesticide products. It will be particularly beneficial for growers looking to replace chemical pesticides with biological products in order to meet market or export standards, satisfy consumer demands for healthier and safer food and reduce pressures on the environment.

Karel Bolckmans, COO of Biobest, said, “We are proud to be an active member of CABI to promote the benefits and opportunities of sustainable and biological horticulture as part of an Integrated Pest Management approach to crop pest and disease mitigation.”

The innovative tool, has been made available by CABI in collaboration with its network of partner biocontrol manufacturers (Koppert Biological Systems, Syngenta, e-nema, Oro Agri, Idai Nature, Terra Link and Applied Bio-nomics) sponsors (Nespresso) and donors (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, African Development Bank, the UK Foreign , Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development who provide invaluable support in the form of technical inputs, strategic guidance and funding.

Find out more information about the CABI BioProtection Portal and opportunities to collaborate at https://bioprotectionportal.com/
and about Biobest at https://www.biobestgroup.com/en/biobest/about-us

 

Notes to editors

Media enquiries

Wayne Coles, Communications Manager, CABI, email: w.coles@cabi.org
Tel: +44 (0)1491 829395

About CABI

CABI is an international not-for-profit organization that improves people’s lives by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment.

Through knowledge sharing and science, CABI helps address issues of global concern such as improving global food security and safeguarding the environment. We do this by helping farmers grow more and lose less of what they produce, combating threats to agriculture and the environment from pests and diseases, protecting biodiversity from invasive species, and improving access to agricultural and environmental scientific knowledge. Our 50 member countries guide and influence our core areas of work, which include development and research projects, scientific publishing and microbial services.

We gratefully acknowledge the core financial support from our member countries (and lead agencies) including the United Kingdom (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office), China (Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs), Australia (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research), Canada (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), Netherlands (Directorate-General for International Cooperation, and Switzerland (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation). Other sources of funding include programme/project funding from development agencies, the fees paid by our member countries and profits from our publishing activities which enable CABI to support rural development and scientific research around the world.

www.cabi.org

About Biobest

A global player in biological pest and disease control and bumblebee pollination of high value greenhouse and berry crops, Biobest exports weekly to over 70 countries worldwide.

Biobest has local production and/or distribution subsidiaries strategically sited in 20 countries worldwide, plus an extensive network of local specialised distributors located in an additional 50 countries on six continents. Employing 1700 employees worldwide, Biobest’s extensive production, supply chain, sales and technical advisory network provides an efficient global service delivering fresh quality product to countries every week using our highly specialised cold chain logistics.

Today the product portfolio of Biobest features a comprehensive range of IPM solutions – including beneficial insects, predatory mites, bumblebees, insect pathogenic nematodes and biopesticides as well as monitoring, scouting and pheromones products.

Biobest has a highly skilled technical team – comprising 160 in-house and 250 distributor advisors – assists growers worldwide to provide best-in-class customized technical advice. To further enable the best possible results for growers, Biobest continually invests in R&D programmes to innovate and improve our products and solutions as well as to develop digital tools to help growers collect and record information on pest and disease incidence, severity and distribution.

Media enquiries

Lise Verachtert, Communication Coordinator, Biobest Group NV, email: lise.verachtert@biobestgroup.com.

https://www.biobestgroup.com/