Bio-pesticides 'Campaign' and 'Sustain' registered for use in Ghana
7 April 2011

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Today the Real IPM Company will launch two biological control agents or bio-pesticides in Ghana.

Product trade name: Campaign
Containing Metharhizium for the control of mealy bugs in papaya
Product trade name: Sustain
Containing Trichoderma for the control of Phytophthora in pineapples


Grace Njeru examines the registration document issued by the Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana

Grace Njeru, the registration officer of the Real IPM Company (K) Ltd, said:

"Real IPM is delighted to have been supported by DFID/RIU which has enabled us to obtain registration of our two bio-pesticides in less than a year in Ghana.

Obtaining permission to use any crop protection agent can be both time consuming and expensive therefore, achieving this goal so quickly is a major achievement and a credit to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Ghanaian regulatory authority, and the University of Ghana who undertook the field efficacy testing.

We now have provisional registration from EPA, which last a year, and this enables us to sell and market our environmentally friendly products in Ghana."

Andy Ward, RIU's crops expert, said:

"Congratulations on launching the two bio-pesticides today.

This is a great achievement from everyone involved in the Ghana bio-pesticide registration programme. These are the first ever bio-pesticides registered in Ghana and so this work is important for the Real IPM Company - but it also has created the opportunity for other companies and products to follow this groundbreaking work.

The permits are for the fungus Metharhizium against mealy bugs, a serious pest of papaya (Ghana exports papaya to the EU), and Trichoderma for the control of the fungal disease Phytopthera, initially on pineapples - but there are other markets for this bio-pesticide too in Ghana".

Bio-pesticides could have a significant impact on both environmental and human health. One of the cocoa farmers in Ghana said to me recently: If I come back from spraying cocoa and I don't feel dizzy I know I have not sprayed enough. Hopefully his dizziness will soon be a thing of the past.'