Crop Protection
DIPEL ® – TECHNOLOGY AHEAD OF ITS TIME Very few crop protection products have stood the test of time, but even after 50 years, DiPel Biological Insecticide stands alone as the leading biological product that growers depend upon to control lepidopteran pests. First registered in 1971, DiPel® has a proud heritage of innovation and field performance, leading the way in sustainable crop protection.
• D iPel poses no harm to humans, wildlife, or the environment, and is non-toxic to pollinators and other beneficial insects.
Frank Galluccio - Regional Manager for Sumitomo AgroSolutions - based in Swan Hill, has been servicing DiPel customers for 30 years and says, “it is a product that was ahead of its time.”
• D iPel is fast-acting, causing caterpillar pests to stop feeding immediately ensuring no further damage to the crop.
He remembers one particular grower, from Euston NSW who had discovered that DiPel was very effective in controlling Light Brown Apple Moth in his grapes, but still did not necessarily want to be seen buying it. Frank fondly remembers that grower would visit his retailer in Robinvale and wait until no other customers were in the store, then walk up to the counter and very quietly say, “May I have some DiPel please”. Times have of course changed, and because DiPel is both very economical and highly compatible, growers now mix it with their general cover sprays for powdery mildew, downy mildew and botrytis giving them protection against disease and LBAM. Frank says the most noticeable thing from the early years of the surreptitious purchase of a 500g pack over the counter, is that DiPel is now sold in much larger quantities and displayed proudly in the back of many utes. DiPel has a number of features specific to biological insecticides that make both ecological and economic sense.
• D iPel has no residues and no withholding periods and is an Australian Organic Registered Farm Input meaning that crops can be used in both organic farming and conventional cropping. • D iPel has no minimum re-entry period after application, so workers are not delayed from returning to the crop to continue harvesting or performing other duties. DiPel is still brought to you by the people that first developed and launched it 50 years ago and now have more experience with Bt insecticides than anyone else. This experience has led to continuous innovation in fermentation, formulation and application technology allowing DiPel to maintain its effectiveness and even surpass many of its younger alternatives. Growers now seek out softer, more selective crop protection options that are compatible with Integrated Pest Management and certified organic programs. Throughout all of these past five decades, DiPel has provided fast, effective, and natural pest control while at the same time being gentle on the crop and kind to beneficial insects, farm workers and the environment. Happy birthday DiPel. Here’s to another 50 years!
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