A sustainable farming fund project aimed at helping smaller scale fruit and vegetable producers to get access to more sustainable pesticides expects to have a number of new agrichemicals through the pipeline by the end of the year.
The minor crops project was set up to help unblock the process and reduce the costs of getting new agrichemicals registered for use in New Zealand.
Getting access to lower risk chemicals is becoming more urgent for growers as older compounds are phased out or restricted.
It's a particular issue for the smaller scale fruit and vege industries because chemical companies find it uneconomic in a small market like New Zealand to invest in the necessary registration trials.
The first new agrichemical has just been registered under the scheme.
The insecticide, called Prodigy, will be used to control the leaf-roller pest on blueberry crops.
The project manager, Nikki Johnson of Market Access Solutionz, says more are on the way.
She says the minor crops project will run until June next year.
