Booster-Mag, a biological product that has both insect protection and nutritional properties is now officially registered with the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA).
Its developer, biotech business Calix, said the registration represented the culmination of six years of work.
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Calix hopes that Booster-Mag, used as a foliar spray that both acts as a fertiliser and assists with crop protection will fill a gap in a market eager for more biological products.
Booster-Mag is registered as a non-lethal control of two-spotted mite on tomato and cucurbit crops after the APVMA concluded its review this month and approved the Calix application.
It means the product can now be supplied or sold and used according to APVMA label instructions.
Calix said large-scale field trials had indicated that regular foliar applications of the product over the growing season can cut the use of synthetic pesticides without a drop in efficacy or crop yield.
And the registration paves the way for future biological crop protection products, by creating a bioactive materials platform which establishes product safety and paves the way for expedited approval for use in more crops and more applications.
The product is based on magnesium oxide and magnesium hydroxide products which are bioactive - early laboratory studies indicated that materials were capable of supressing common and highly destructive crop diseases.
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Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
