Bayer CropScience Davis California

Bayer CropScience has reached what it has caled an 'important milestone' towards the market introduction of its biological insecticide Requiem in Europe, with Requiem's active ingredient Terpenoid Blend QRD 460 recently approved by the European Commission.

For growers and the entire food value chain, Requiem is designed to provide control of sucking pests and extend quality of harvested produce.

Bayer predicted that the first registrations of Requiem are expected in some European countries before end of 2016, while the market launch in Europe is planned for 2017.

'Requiem is the latest innovation from Bayer CropScience in the field of biological insecticides and an important addition to integrated pest management (IPM) programmes in greenhouse vegetables,' pointed out Gilles Chevallier, global product management biological insecticides at Bayer CropScience. 'Its mode of action is effective against sucking pests, especially thrips, whiteflies, aphids and mites, leading to healthier crops and better-quality produce.'

Requiem was developed to control sucking pests in a wide range of fruits and vegetables, and some row crops, and is intended for use as foliar insecticide and acaricide - in spray programmes, as a standalone or together with chemical crop protection products.