China丨Taiwan looks to mass produce microbial acaricide

Taipei, Nov. 1 (CNA) Taiwan has developed a toxin-free biopesticide that can protect crops against intractable pests and will become the fist country to mass produce such a product, an agricultural official said Tuesday.

The research on the biopesticide, which is based on photorhabdus luminescens, a bacterial insect pathogen, has borne fruit after 18 years of hard work, officials with the Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute told a press conference Tuesday.

The biopesticide has been proven to have excellent ovicidal activity against such hard-to-control pests as spider mites, which are often found in papaya, other fruit trees and flowering plants, said Chang Ruey-jang (張瑞璋), director-general of the institute under the Council of Agriculture (COA).

The institute is currently applying to the COA to authorize mass production and sale of the biopesticide in Taiwan.

The research was initially inspired by a 2003 study published by the University of Wisconsin in the United States about the efficacy of photorhabdus luminescens in killing pests and bacteria, but was performed on a local photorhabdus luminescens strain, Chang said.

Meanwhile, the team has also developed techniques to mass produce the biological control agent, which will make Taiwan the first country in the world to manufacture a biopesticide, said Hsieh Feng-chia (謝奉家), a researcher at the institute.