Plater Bio sharing chitosan expertise at national conference

Russell Sharp, Plater Bio’s Technical Director is one of the featured speakers at The Association of Applied Biologists’ 2 day conference taking place at Harper Adams University 25-26 September 2017. The conference is focusing on the advances in IPM (Integrated Pest management) and how reinventing agriculture can reduce the dependency on pesticides whilst avoiding major crop losses to pests, weeds and diseases. 

Speaking on Day 1, Dr Sharp, will be sharing his insights into Chitosan and the forgotten ‘basic substances’ as part of the crop protection challenges sessions. 

As one of the few cationic polymers in nature, chitosan is an effective biopesticide treatment and is useful for both no-till farmers and organic farmers. It has been possible to use chitosan under EU ‘basic substance’ organic regulations since 2014 for the control of fungi and bacterial diseases. As a biostimulant, it promotes stress resistance, activates plant defences and improves the efficacy of co-applied chemicals and microbials It can be applied as a seed coating or foliar spray. Whilst popular in Southern Europe, farmers in Britain are yet to adapt the technology on a wide scale. 

In other industries, chitosan is used as a flocculant or colloid in the manufacture of biopolymers. Plater Bio manufactures Fungi-derived Chitosan that is available with a range of co-ions and as a liquid or powder. Plater Bio is Europe’s only producer of fungal chitosan, a powerful flocculant. Fungal Chitosan is not hazardous to health or to the environment and is organic. 

For more information and for speaking requests, please contact us. 

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