The Annual World BioProtection Summit and Awards to be held in Birmingham from May 23-24

The Annual World BioProtection Summit and Awards will be held in Birmingham from May 23-24. The event will cover topics on biopesticides, biostimulants, biofertilisers, biocides and bioremediation. Besides, the summit will have the Annual World BioProtection Summit and Awards (AWBSA).

AWBSA will offer:

• An excellent conference programme featuring top-billing speakers who will share the latest developments and opinions in bioprotection.
• A session dedicated to regulatory challenges, with a meaningful panel discussion involving representatives from across the sector, including policymakers
• Excellent networking opportunities
• An opportunity to pitch new ideas in a vibrant and energetic InvestorReady session
• An Awards scheme celebrating the sector’s brightest achievements.

According to Dr Minshad Ansari, Chairman, The World Bio Protection Forum (WBF), the past two years have shown how quickly life can change. The covid pandemic, extreme climate events, and geopolitical challenges that are resonating throughout the world have made us all realise the fragility of our lives, and that of even the strongest business. Few companies were prepared for the changes that the past two years have wrought and, while strengthened supply chains, flexible working and other pragmatisms have provided the resilience that AgriTech needs to continue thriving in the ‘new normal’, old challenges remain.

Ansari said, “Primarily, the biocontrol sector continues to struggle with the challenge of converting brilliant ideas into commercial products that can be sold on the market. There appears to be no shortage of new ideas for biocontrol solutions, but the following challenges remain.”

The challenges are:

• Innovation: There are not enough biocontrol products on the market to address growing demand – as more toxic chemicals are banned, the world urgently needs more biological solutions to fill those gaps.
• Formulation: Early biocontrol options failed due to sub-optimal formulation techniques that allow full efficacy to be achieved.
• Regulation: Despite 30 years of efforts by individual companies and other industry groups, little has been achieved in gaining the regulatory reforms required for new biopesticides.
• Investment: The biocontrol sector is dominated by entrepreneurs, spin-offs and SMEs that need external investment to advance their innovations and get them to market.