Four R&D trials are being conducted to gather further disease and nut rot data and to determine the nutmeal quality
Bee Vectoring Technologies International announced that it is conducting 10 almond trials in the 2022 growing season, which started during the almond bloom period (mid-February to mid-March) and will continue through harvest in the Fall. The locations are throughout California’s Central Valley, including in Bakersville, the Fresno area, and Northern California. This is the second year for BVT almond trials as farmers require multi-year data under local conditions for proof of efficacy.
The California almond market is important to BVT because of its huge market potential, and California almond pollination is believed to be the largest single pollination event worldwide. Valued at over $6 billion, almonds are California’s largest non-dairy crop in the state, with over 1.2 million acres in production. Almond growing is big business and the sector has key sustainability objectives: the Almond Board of California has committed to increasing the adoption of environmentally-friendly pest management tools by 25 per cent by 2025.
Four R&D trials are being conducted to gather further disease and nut rot data and to determine nutmeal quality. Four grower demonstrations are being used to collect harvest yield and nutmeal quality data to allow farmers to evaluate BVT in stage one of the new customer sales adoption cycle. Some of the trials are with large and influential companies in the almond growing community. Across the eight trials, four varieties of almonds are being treated with BVT’s proprietary Vectorite with CR-7 (Clonostachys rosea CR-7) biological fungicide, applied with bee vectoring.
Two further spray trials are being conducted with the University of California Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology. This is the second year CR-7 has been included in the research programme, spraying it on almond trees at bloom to assess control of brown rot blossom blight (Monilinia laxa) and jacket rot (Botrytis cinerea).
BVT’s precision agriculture system helps growers meet this goal. The 2022 trials will grow awareness and provide proof of concept that BVT technology controls key fungal pathogens in almonds in a manner consistent with the objectives of the Almond Board.
“California almonds use over 2 million bee colonies for pollination every year,” said Collinson. “When a nut grows, it’s because of a bee-pollinated flower. So why not have those bees do double duty – and carry biological fungicides to those flowers? BVT is a natural fit with almonds – and the California market is a massive opportunity for the Company.”
For trials to be useable, the disease has to be present, which isn’t the case every year, particularly in dry windy seasons. Several seasons and multiple sites may be required to demonstrate effectiveness for disease control. At a minimum, the yield data obtained will be extremely valuable in initiating the sales process with almond growers.
