Breaking Down Biocontrol Breakthroughs by Crop
February 7, 2022 
Photo; Tara Saito
During next month’s Biocontrols USA Conference and Expo, buckle up for four focused tracks, concentrating on different crop groups. Each crop group – Greenhouse, Fruit, Vegetables, and Cannabis – will include sessions from respected researchers, growers, and other industry leaders. You’ll hear about the latest breakthroughs and learn about real-world problem solving and more.
Greenhouse Sessions
The greenhouse market has long been a leader in adopting biocontrol strategies, and that trend is as strong as ever. If you’re growing in a controlled environment, the Biocontrols USA Conference program will provide information on battling your toughest greenhouse pests with sustainable but effective tools, from biopesticides to beneficials to biostimulants.
New Predatory Mite for Greenhouse Vegetable, Ornamental Growers: New biopesticide products are introduced on a regular basis, but it’s just as exciting to learn about new pest predators you can add to your crop protection program. Researchers at Canada’s Vineland Research and Innovation Centre have discovered a new generalist predator to help control a multitude of pests in greenhouse crops. Learn more about the latest research, what’s next, and how you will benefit, from the company that will be providing this predator to the market. (Brian Spencer, President, Applied Bio-nomics Ltd.)
Managing Common Greenhouse Vegetable Diseases: A Microbials Approach: Root and crown rots. Powdery mildew. Postharvest fruit rots. Vegetable growers are familiar with all of the ways disease can attack a crop in the greenhouse. In this valuable session, you will learn about research showing how microbial biological agents can keep these disease pests in check – often at levels comparable to synthetic fungicides. (Zamir Punja, Professor, Plant Pathology, Simon Fraser University)
Biological Solutions to Your Most Important Pests: Learn how to identify Whiteflies, why this pest is a problem, and how to manage it in this 10-minute presentation.
Get the Best Results with Biostimulants in Your Greenhouse: Why are some biostimulants applied just once while others require multiple applications to see an effect? Join Ohio State University’s Michelle Jones to learn how the efficacy of biostimulants is influenced by the greenhouse environment and other inputs. Did you know high fertilizer rates, especially phosphorus, can reduce the effectiveness of mycorrhizae and other microbial biostimulants? Or that growing media composition may also influence whether microbial inoculants successfully colonize and provide benefits to their host plants? You’ll leave this session understanding the best ways you can use biostimulants to enhance plant growth and help with environmental stress in the greenhouse.
Cannabis and Hemp Sessions
Cannabis and hemp growers are limited in their pest management toolbox, leaving them without many of the options that growers of other crops have readily available. That makes biological products a critical resource. In this breakout track, you’ll learn about the tools and techniques that are working for growers just like you, and can help you produce a high-quality and highly marketable crop.
Good Microbes and Bad Microbes: Be Aware of What You Buy to Apply: The purpose of applying any crop protection product is to obtain control of the pest or disease that threatens your crop. In cannabis, there is no standard list of approved control products across the country. Instead, individual states where cannabis production has been legalized determine what materials can be used. This leads to a patchwork of regulations, and EPA registered biological products approved in one state may not be allowed in another.
Unfortunately, many non-registered and non-regulated products are readily available for purchase over the internet. Carrying vague claims as “plant-enhancers,” they often contain microbes with the same name as those found in registered products. However, even though microbes may have the same scientific name, it does not mean that they all work the same; nor are non-registered products held to the same quality standards as those that are EPA-approved. So, do you know what you are applying into your crop? Suzanne Wainwright Evans, Owner, Buglady Consulting and Michael Brownbridge, Biological Program Manager, Disease Control at BioWorks, Inc. will discuss this trend and share some of their findings and offer advice on how to avoid purchasing these products.
How One Cannabis Producer Set Up Its Biologicals Program for Success: Allison Justice of the Hemp Mine discusses the program set up, key advantages, and cost of using biologicals to control insects and fungal disease in outdoor production. She will detail 2021 research and development results for outdoor microbial applications.
Biological Solutions to Your Most Important Pests: Learn how to identify Cannabis Aphid, why it is a problem, and how to manage it in this 10-minute presentation.
How to Reduce Cannabis Disease with Biologicals: Root-infecting pathogens, bud rots, and powdery mildew are the most damaging diseases affecting cannabis in commercial production and control options have been somewhat limited. Learn about research using biological controls to keep these pests in check. In this session from Zamir Punja, you’ll find out what works and what doesn’t to help control cannabis diseases in your production.
Learn more about the event here.
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