When it comes to bringing a new chemical to market, ABGC plays an important role in advocating for the banana industry. However, there are certain limits to what can be achieved. 

What ABGC can do:

• Support and advocate for new crop protection tools.
• Highlight the industry’s crop protection gaps with chemical companies.
• Support registration by assisting chemical testing companies find appropriate trials sites on banana farms.
• Raise awareness around the changing crop protection landscape, highlighting its impact on growers, the fruit they produce and what it means for the supply chain.
• Work collaboratively with Government, chemical companies and funding bodies to find ways to support growers.
• Provide accurate information to the APVMA on behalf of industry when chemistries are being reviewed, as was done with chlorpyrifos and omethoate (folimat).

ABGC recognises that options for growers in this space are decreasing. It’s an issue across many industries and the stark reality is shared: farmers cannot continue to produce the same quality and quantity of produce without solutions or serious, systematic changes.

What ABGC can’t do:

• Bring back chemistries that have been cancelled or stop APVMA from reviewing chemistries.
• Solely fund or develop a new novel product, noting the timeframes, significant costs and resources involved.
• Bring new crop protection products to banana growers without the support of chemical companies. Most chemical companies are multinationals and make decisions on how best to obtain return on their investment for bringing new compounds to market.

At this time, existing trials and efforts to obtain new label registrations through AgVet forum grants or co-fund through our R&D levy with other industries represent the best option for industry.