Corteva’s new organic insecticide

Oct. 20, 2020 | 5 Min read
In a commitment to the sustainability of Australian farmers, Corteva Agriscience has launched a new organic insecticide. Entrust Organic is a naturally derived insecticide, based on metabolites produced by the fermentation of naturally occurring soil organisms. Its favourable environmental and end-user safety profile offers many benefits to growers wanting effective control of damaging pests.

Nick Koch – Corteva’s marketing manager for horticulture and insecticides says the product has long been anticipated by the Australian agricultural market – not only for its organic certification, but also for its favourable environmental profile and selectivity to key beneficial insects.

“Entrust Organic is a biological solution that restores balance to your crop protection program. Having minimal impact on key beneficial insects it is ideally suited to integrated pest management (IPM) programmes,” Mr Koch said.

“With Entrust Organic you can build sustainable productivity for this generation and secure the future of your farm for the next. It’s a product that Corteva is proud to offer because we know that farmers will benefit. Its proven efficacy and organic certification offer farmers a sustainable alterative to help them thrive.”

Entrust Organic offers selective control of various Lepidopteran caterpillar pests, leaf miner, cherry and pear slug and thrips. Registered in over 80 different crops, Entrust Organic offers versatility for growers with mixed farming enterprises.

Registrations include cucurbits, culinary herbs, vegetables (brassica, fruiting, leafy, root, tuber, stalk and stem), legumes, avocados, berries, citrus, grapes, pome fruit, stone fruit, and tropical fruit crops.

Kim Martin, who manages Frais Farms – a leafy vegetable and brassica operation in East Gippsland, said the introduction of Entrust Organic to Australia will be a ‘game changer’ for the local horticultural sector.

“To date there haven’t been a lot of tools available to growers to combat insect pressures in an organic operation,” Mr Martin said. “We’re really thrilled that Corteva is bringing Entrust to the marketplace as it’s a good, clean product.

“With the certification from the organic industry, it offers us the opportunity to further boost our brand as a credible supplier of a superior product that is insect and defect-free,” he said.

Mr Martin said the safety aspect of the product was also a huge bonus to industry. “It’s a very soft product which means not only does it not harm the environment, it also doesn’t harm the farmer applying it,” he said.

“In an agricultural environment, chemicals can often be quite risky to handle or require a lot of protective wear, but a product like Entrust puts your mind at ease. I think farmers are going to love using this and also have peace of mind when asking their employees to handle it too.”

Nick Koch said Corteva was committed to working with Australian growers like Mr Martin to enable them to maximise yield and profitability with quality new products.

“Being able to offer new selective chemistries with improved environmental and safety profiles and to meet the demand for softer, more sustainable chemistry for Australian agriculture is something we’re really proud of,” he said.

“When farmers win, everyone wins, and investing in the products our customers want and need makes good sense to me personally and to Corteva. We are a company with clear sustainability objectives striving to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume.”

To register your interest in Entrust Organic, visit entrust-organic.corteva.com.au or call Corteva Agriscience toll free on 1800 700 096.

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