Biological Crop Solutions

Agricultural biologicals cannot completely replace pesticides, but they can be used to complement them. Incorporating biologicals into an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy allows growers to improve crop quality and maximize yields while fostering environmental consciousness sustainably.

Unlike chemical solutions, biological crop solutions conserve and rejuvenate soil. They foster soil fertility, ensuring it will be usable in the future. This feature mitigates the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that have been known to end up in nearby water sources. Because biologicals rebuild soil, they can counter-act erosion.

When crops are grown in healthy soil, they develop stronger, more resilient root systems that optimize their absorption of nutrients and water. This resilience allows plants to resist extreme environmental conditions such as droughts and allows growers to conserve water without risking crop quality or yield.

Agricultural biologicals also benefit the environment by reducing our carbon footprint. While chemical solutions are synthetic and can increase carbon output during the growing process, biologicals use nature-derived solutions that work with the environment, ultimately impacting our carbon footprint in a positive way.

Similarly to chemical solutions, biologicals can suppress any type of pest or disease that could be harmful to crop production such as plant pathogens, vertebrates, insects, fungi, and weeds. This is achieved through the use of a pest or disease’s natural enemies in the form of predators, parasitoids, antagonists, pathogens, or competitors. Once they have been successfully implemented as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy, these solutions are self-sustaining, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly.

There is no uniform method of testing and regulating biologicals across the world, however, the United States has implemented rigorous procedures to ensure their safety and efficacy. Testing and regulation are achieved through the combined powers of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), allowing growers to be confident that the products they are using are ethically sound.