Davis, California, USA
October 26, 2010
SERENADE® fungicide nominated as Best Crop Protection Product in 25 Years
AgraQuest Inc. announced today that it has been short-listed in four categories of the Agrow Awards, the preeminent technology prizes awarded in the global crop protection industry. The Agrow Awards are presented by Agrow, a leading information provider for the industry.
Leading the entries is AgraQuest’s Bacillus subtilis strain QST 713, the active ingredient in SERENADE fungicide, which is a finalist in the Best Crop Protection Product in 25 Years category. Now sold in more than 25 countries, SERENADE, the world’s leading microbial biofungicide, allows growers of crops as diverse as bananas, hops, and oil seed rape to produce crops free of pesticide residues. This active ingredient has also been commercialized in several adjacent markets such as home and garden and animal nutrition, highlighting the unique benefits and flexibility of QST 713.
“We’re proud of the place SERENADE holds in global food production, providing growers the reliable disease control they need while protecting their environment and their neighbors,” said AgraQuest CEO, Marcus Meadows-Smith.
Other products that have been short-listed in this category include innovations that revolutionized farming like Roundup Ready traits, sulfonylurea herbicides, the insecticide active ingredient rynaxypyr, Confidor insecticide based on the active ingredient imidacloprid, and BT based traits.
With two of its products, SERENADE SOIL™ fungicide and REQUIEM® insecticide, being short-listed in the Best New Biopesticide category, AgraQuest further solidified its position as the global leader in biopesticide research and development. SERENADE SOIL, a unique soil fungicide combining control on important yield-robbing diseases with root colonization and plant growth effects, gives growers a new unique approach to both protect and enhance yields. REQUIEM controls sucking pests in high value fruits, nuts and vegetables while preserving beneficial insects, delivering effective insect control within Integrated Pest Management production systems.
Additionally, AgraQuest’s CEO, Marcus Meadows-Smith was nominated in the Best Manager with Strategic Vision category. The nomination reflects Meadows-Smith’s repositioning of AgraQuest to marry the company’s strengths with the converging needs of the food production market, including population growth, consumer demand for affordable foods with no or low-pesticide residues, the need for sustainable agriculture practices, and regulatory action banning older pesticides driving the need for new, innovative tools.
In 2009 and 2010, the period covered by this nomination, Meadows-Smith repositioned the company to become the go-to partner for superior biopesticides for mainstream agriculture, resulting in 50% revenue growth and global technology and product partnerships with major agrochemical manufacturers including BASF, Bayer CropScience and Monsanto.
The winners will be announced November 2, 2010 in London.
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