Dudutech, Africa's leader in designing and delivering biological pest control solutions, also known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), is pointing farmers to safer and more natural solutions in managing some of the dangerous pests and diseases affecting farmers on the continent and beyond.
In doing so, the Kenya-based company is putting the continent on the global map in developing biological pest control and addressing emerging consumer needs in local and export markets.
″The current growing need for sustainable agricultural production and the demand for healthy food by consumers around the world require new innovations to ensure that agricultural products especially for export, whether flowers, fruits or vegetables, are in the best possible condition″, said Cory Smit , Marketing Manager at Dudutech Consulting
So, we are basically advocating for alternative methods of pest and disease control in crops, he added.
To meet farmers' expectations, the company is unearthing some of the latest technologies used around the world and bringing them to Africa to help improve and sustain crop yields.
″Our organic nutrient products, for example, are designed in a way that helps the host plant develop its resistance in part over time through nutrition and also helps improve soil biodiversity to assist in fighting pathogens″, said Livingstone Chepukel, senior technical leader at Dudutech.
SIRIUS, which is a plant nutrient containing a unique form of bioavailable silicon, is one such product.
Because it is water soluble, Livingstone explains that it can be easily applied as a foliar spray or to the soil surface, where it is absorbed by the leaves and roots of plants, allowing the silicon to be transported around the plant in the xylem.
Upon reaching the plant tissues, silicon is deposited on the epidermal cell walls, just below the cuticle, forming a double layer of cuticle, conferring resistance to plant tissues.
It also increases the leaf hairs present on the leaf surface, preventing pests from grazing and is best for a wide range of crops including flowers, vegetables, fruits and cereals.
Since entering the local market in 2001, the company has provided biological solutions against some of the most destructive pests such as thrips, aphids, nematodes, mites, mealybugs, slugs and snails and whiteflies, among others.
The company is now creating, growing and selling different biological control agents, from Phytotech (Phytoseilus persimilis) amblyseius californicus for spider control, Lecatech, a fungus that kills whiteflies and aphids to Nematech S against thrips, among others.
The approach now helps local farmers reach out to the world as it comes at a time when the European Union (EU) plans to reduce chemicals used in agriculture by 50 per cent and increase the share of organic farming by 25 per cent from the current eight per cent by 2030.
The EU, which is the export destination for most of our horticultural products, including flowers, vegetables and fruit, has over the years increasingly banned or limited the use of chemical pesticides.
コメント