Delivering a Grower Focus
Growers are up against mounting pest and disease challenges due to climate change, reduced efficacy, and diminishing availability of traditional pest control tools. The specialty crop industry in particular requires new crop input technologies due to governmental regulations and consumer demands. Bio-based and novel pest control options to address existing and anticipated gaps in pest management are sorely needed to ensure that our growers are properly equipped with the tools to address these challenges.
Platform10 has been established to bring growers to the center of the innovation ecosystem. They understand the problems and challenges better than anyone. Platform10 will provide other key stakeholder groups within the specialty crop sector with the opportunity of learning about these problems and challenges at first hand.
Delivering a core grower focus is central to that ambition.
Accelerating grower confidence and adoption
Platform10's new model to assess and accelerate biopesticide and bio-based pest control tools is intended to improve grower confidence and understanding for how to use biological products. Rigorous standards of efficacy including knockdown, crop damage, and increased yield/quality potential will be assessed. Additionally, effects on nontarget organisms and soil health, replacement potential for traditional chemical pesticides, and appropriate application rate/use pattern will be considered.
This program will work with product companies to design protocols, developed to assess how the product works when incorporated into a more integrated, ecologically based farming system.
As a grower driven program, Platform10 has been designed to accelerate grower confidence and adoption.
Building a Global Partner Network
One of the core foundation principles in the establishment of Platform10 was that it was a global initiative. As the ‘About Us’ introduction says; Platform10 is an international, multi-year collaboration that will accelerate promising biopesticide companies, rigorously assess products, enhance grower confidence, and facilitate market development and adoption.
At the 2024 Salinas Biological Summit (June25-26), we will be announcing details of the formal establishment of the Platform10 Global Partner Network. This will be based on the next phase of field trials which will identify promising biopesticide companies and provide them with the opportunity to participate in controlled field trials across the globe.
The framework for the Global Partner Network will be built in early 2024 after consultation with a number of interested partners. We will post details about how to participate and engage with the program via the Platform10 website and other social media channels.
If you are interested to learn more about this Program, please register your interest at platform10@salinas-summit.com
Join the Platform10 Program
The Platform10 team are keen to invite growers, policy-makers, regulators, researchers, agribusinesses, dealers, startups, investors and the wider specialty crop industry to join the Platform10 program.
We are building a connected framework which provides a number of opportunities to engage.
- The Platform10 Field Trial Program
- The Platform10 Podcast Series, 'The Grower Talks'
- The 2024 Salinas Biological Summit
- The Platform10 Global Partner Network
We are looking for feedback and input from industry stakeholders, keen to deliver value to growers as they address mounting pest and disease challenges due to climate change, reduced efficacy, and diminishing availability of traditional pest control tools.
If you would like to provide insights which you believe will assist this mission, please send your thoughts to platform10@salinas-summit.com
The team at Platform10 look forward to hearing from you.
