AgBiTech has been serving the Australian farming community for over 20 years as a supplier of innovative and environmentally safe products for pest control. The company utilises biological control methods, such as baculoviruses, to target specific pests without impacting other species, damaging soil health, mitigating crops or imposing otherwise limiting withholding periods on harvested produce.
The product range includes certified organic allowed inputs, with formulations used to protect a variety of crops including broadacre crops such as maize and sorghum, as well as a wide range of horticultural and specialty crops. At present, AgBiTech products are used most commonly on conventional farms, fitting perfectly into farms with a strong focus on integrated pest management. Despite this, there are plenty of organic farms making use of their products. AgBiTech have estimated that if their products didn’t exist, approximately 2,500 tons (Active Ingredient) of conventional toxic insecticide may have been used on Australian crops instead.
Fawligen, ViVUS Max and ViVUS Armigen are all organic certified and suitable for control of Helicoverpa and Fall Armyworm.
Some AgBiTech products require the company to produce insect viruses in vivo (inside the insect) for the best results. This encompasses mass breeding of caterpillars, before they are infected and their cadavers used as part of a liquid formulation carrying the baculovirus. The target pests have no resistance to these naturally occurring viruses, making the formulation highly effective.
The company serves more than just Australia, with a laboratory, production plant and global headquarters in Texas, to support growing demand in the United States and Brazil.
Back home, AgBiTech’s Glenvale location in Queensland is used for research & development, with a large quantity of products made onsite ready to be shipped to farms Australia wide. The highly concentrated products are temperature sensitive and must be kept at or below 4 degrees for maximum effectiveness.
For those interested in the AgBiTech range, the company offers a library of resources for all their products. These documents include organic allowed input certification, as well as technical details around emergency use permits, information on withholding periods, material data sheets and much more.
To contact AgBiTech Australia, feel free to visit their website and get in touch with their Toowoomba office via phone or email.
