Biological Crop Protection Pt1
I'm Bob Larson. Conventional, organic, chemical, and biological ... the Ag industry is changing at light-speed and growers spend a lot of time just educating themselves on the latest and greatest.
One rapidly changing facet of farming is the growing demand for those biological products that can help crops grow without as many chemicals. Recently, I spoke with Keith Jones, executive director of the Biological Products Industry Alliance ...
JONES ... "BPIA, we're a trade association based in the Washington D.C. area. We represent companies that are involved with either bio-pesticides or bio-stimulants. And, we're here at the Potato Expo because we have about, over a dozen members here. And, those products are just what they sound like, they're natural, biological products. In the case of bio-pesticides, they help with pest control. As far as bio-stimulants, they really help with plant growth. They could help with the growth of something like a potato."
I asked Jones what types of things BPIA was focused on this year ...
JONES ... "There's a lot going on this year. As I said, we're based in the D.C. area so we do a lot on Capitol Hill and, as you can imagine, there's a lot of activity in Washington D.C. Certainly, the upcoming 2018 Farm Bill is going to be a big piece of legislation for us. We're actually looking to get a definition of the term bio-stimulant put into that piece of legislation. We're also trying to get PRIA, the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act, reauthorized. That's another important piece of legislation."
Jones says the BPIA's mission is to promote the responsible development of safe and effective biological products.
Listen tomorrow for more on this expanding market.
