New Bioinsecticide Gets OK for Use on Greenhouse Crops

Adult Thrips

Vestaron Corporation’s Spear-T bioinsecticide is now fully available to greenhouse growers, following final EPA approval this month of its manufacturing process for a liquid formulation.

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Spear-T is an insect control solution that provides the efficacy of a synthetic chemistry with the safety and toxicity profile of a biological. It has a zero-day pre-harvest interval and is designed to be non-toxic to mammals, birds, fish, honeybees, and other beneficial insects. It also can be used with regular fogging/spraying equipment.

Initial target pests are thrips, whiteflies, and spider mites. Spear-T is one of very few pesticides that can control spider mites as well as insect pests. Vestaron also has a development program underway for aphids and spotted wing drosophila.

“The last key step to full commercialization was EPA approval of our manufacturing process,” says Anna Rath, Vestaron’s new Chief Executive Officer.

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Isagro USA has been granted distribution rights in the U.S. for greenhouse vegetable applications. Additional distribution rights for the greenhouse market will be announced soon.

Rath notes that another product from this peptide family of products is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2019, designed for producers of fruits, vegetables, and other high-value field crops to control lepidopteran pests.

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