Creating a buzz

hat is Bee Vectoring Technology, and what was the business set up to achieve?

Ashish Malik: For 20 years, Bee Vectoring Technology has been committed to the protection and evolution of sustainable, natural commercial farming solutions. BVT is the emerging company behind a revolutionary patented bee vectoring technology that uses commercially reared bees to deliver targeted crop protection and enhancement materials through the natural process of pollination. BVT was incorporated in January 2012. However, the technology and intellectual property forming the basis of BVT’s business was initiated more than 20 years ago, and field trials and other testing have been ongoing since 2006. All intellectual property from the period before incorporation has been duly assigned and transferred to BVT.

Tell me about how specifically the BVT technology works.

AM: In short, the BVT system uses BVT’s patented organic delivery medium – a powder called Vectorite – that is mixed with a disease control product (such as a fungicide) or plant amendment product (such as a plant growth promoter). The mixture is placed in a tray (called a Vectorpak) that is attached to a commercial bee hive. While exiting the hives for pollination, bees walk through the Vectorpak, collecting the Vectorite mixture on their legs and body. The bees then deliver the Vectorite and the active ingredient directly to the plants during their routine pollination process. Vectorpaks are changed every few days during pollination season. BVT currently has a proprietary active ingredient Clonostachys rosea CR-7 for use with the BVT system. CR-7 is currently used by growers for yield enhancement in the US. This same active ingredient is currently under regulatory review for use as a biofungicide in both the US and Switzerland.

Which particular crops does it work on, and how effective is it?

AM: Currently, the BVT technology is being used on a variety of crops that required pollination by bees. Growers who are already familiar and comfortable with bringing hives onto their fields are the most willing to adopt the system. This includes growers of strawberries, blueberries, sunflowers and almonds. However, the use of the BVT system to deliver plant enhancement or plant protection products is available to any flowering crop. Growers that are using the BVT system receive increased marketable yield, increasing their profits. CR-7 is currently under regulatory review in the US and Switzerland for use as a biofungicide, and approval of CR-7 as a biocontrol for fungal diseases would mean that growers would receive better pest control while further lowering costs by reducing water, fuel and dose rates associated with current disease control applications.

Can this be a successful replacement for controversial treatments such asneonicotinoids?

AM: Neonicotinoids are a specific class of insecticides that have been used in commercial agriculture on a global scale for the better part of the last three decades. There is some evidence that indicates that neonicotinoids may be a contributing factor in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that affects bee populations. CCD is a concern for BVT since the technology requires a strong population of healthy, managed beehives. The BVT system can potentially be used to deliver a wide variety of plant amendment and protection products, provided that they have no harmful effect on the bee population used in the system. Currently, BVT uses the system to deliver CR-7 for yield enhancement. Through in-licensing, partnerships and new product development, the goal of BVT is to offer a system that can be used for a wide variety of products that can control insects, fungus, bacteria and other pests that don’t negatively impact bee populations.

What are the benefits to consumers, farmers and bees respectively?

AM: Ultimately, the benefits to consumers, farmers and bees are the same: a healthier, more robust environment for controlling disease and enhancing yield on commercially grown crops. By using no water, lower dose rates, and no fuel to deliver crop protection or plant amendment products, the BVT can reduce growers’ production costs and increase their profits.

Is the technology already in use? What’s the progress towards its introduction in Europe and the UK?

AM: The BVT system is currently being used by commercial growers to deliver CR-7 to improve yields of strawberry and blueberry growers in the US. Other US crops in non-commercial application stages (such as trials or grower demos) include sunflowers and almonds. BVT is also actively working with regulation officials in Europe and Mexico to bring the BVT system and CR-7 to those markets as well.

What limitations are there of the system?

AM: As with any new plant protection technology used by commercial growers, understanding the variables of growing conditions and how those variables impact efficacy is the greatest challenge. BVT has spent more than two decades working to understand how to use bees to deliver crop protection and plant amendment products before bringing the system to market. Currently, BVT’s focus is limited to crops that use commercial bees for pollination. For growers already using bees as part of their production practices, the use of the BVT system requires minimal education on using the BVT system and virtually no change to their routine. For growers that don’t require pollination for their crops, the use of BVT is a much larger change to their current practices.

Is it commercially cost-effective?

AM: Certainly! Strawberry and blueberry growers in the US are already using the BVT system and seeing the benefits. For growers that already use managed bee hives to pollinate their crops, the BVT system provides added value through increased marketable yield. The BVT system requires fewer inputs (such as water, fuel and equipment) that are needed by traditional spray application methods. As BVT works to refine its value proposition, the cost to the grower will adjust accordingly but will retain a better cost position than many application methods currently in use on many crops.

What’s next for BVT?

AM: Since its inception, the mission of BVT has been to promote and provide opportunities for environmentally responsible crop control that is targeted, efficient and cost effective. While the use of bees is an excellent way for BVT to deliver on that promise, the future of how growers use biologic-based crop protection products is wide open. BVT is actively seeking out and reviewing potential new technologies for responsible crop protection such as foliar sprays, seed treatments and partnerships with other ag-focused technology companies.