Australian growers get the buzz on biologicals
A group of Australian horticultural growers headed to Europe and the UK earlier this year to bring global innovation back to home soil. Supported by Hort Innovation, they saw the latest biologically-derived crop solutions in action.
Delivered in partnership with Elders Rural Services, with co-investment from Bayer, UPL and Corteva, the tour was aimed at helping growers navigate emerging technologies, regulatory trends and adoption pathways that can strengthen productivity, resilience and long‑term competitiveness.
Mila Bristow, General Manager of Trade and Biosecurity R&D at Hort Innovation, said a key priority for Hort Innovation is giving Australian growers the tools and technologies they need to farm productively, sustainably and safely.
“This initiative was designed to expose leading horticultural producers to global biological crop solutions, a key area of interest for Australian growers as we transition to a future requiring diversified crop protection approaches.”
The study tour included meetings and field tours with leading crop solution companies Corteva and Bayer, as well as corporate and family growers. Citrus and vegetable crops were covered, focusing on strategies to meet supermarket maximum residue limit requirements and integrated pest management practices.
South Australian onion grower Brett Dolling took part in the study tour and said that biologicals are now a mainstay in most farming operations.
“Due to supermarket and regulatory pressures, growers are losing chemicals faster than new products can be registered. Seeing how our peers across the other side of the world are working with their farm input suppliers and agronomy service providers to adapt under that pressure was eye opening,” he said
“Exploring new ways to manage pests and disease and optimise crop nutrition frontiers, such as biologicals, will be an important part of farming in the future. And ensuring that we have access to leading global technologies that can be adapted to Australian production conditions is becoming more important each year in the changing global environment.”
Findings from the study tour will be shared with Australian growers and advisors in the coming months through targeted reports, presentations and industry forums, ensuring the benefits extend well beyond the participating delegation.
This project Global biological control investigation and pathway identification study tour (AS25006) is funded through Hort Innovation Frontiers with co-investment from Elders Rural Services and contributions from the Australian Government. Find out more here.