Oreka and MAI007 are two new products that were officially launched by Hi-Pro at the Denbigh Agriculture, Industrial and Food Show, held in Clarendon from August 4-6.

The new products were created by the company to help reduce the effects that pesticides normally have on the environment.

Senior agronomist at Hi-Pro, Orville Roache, informed the Business Observer that the products are geared towards strengthening safety measures in agriculture and were built to also help in creating a climate- smart agricultural sector.

“We are looking at the fact that safe food is not something that can be quantified on the basis that farmers don’t practice proper record-keeping. They do not know when their crops are sprayed and when they should be harvested.

“Not that it is done intentionally, but because of a lack of record-keeping we find that farmers spray today and reap on the same day when they should be reaping seven days after,” Roache said, while noting that this isn’t always the case, but it does happen at times.

He further mentioned that the team at Hi-Pro is confident that these products will restore confidence to the farming community and the general public, as they (the new products) allow for spraying and reaping on the same day without side effects.

While making reference to the new fungicide, Roache said, “This is a biological fungicide by the name of MAI007 and it controls all the major pests that would affect lettuce plants, sweet peppers, tomatoes, onions, and others and the beauty about this product is that it is derived from a natural process of fermentation of a bacteria.”

He then added that Oreka (the other product being launched) is one of the most harmless herbicides that is going to be available soon on the market.

“Oreka is one of the safest herbicides that is going to be launched in the agricultural sector, and in about the next month it will be available on the shelves of Hi-Pro Farm Supplies and farm stores islandwide.

“Former herbicides have had a harmful effect on the environment, leaving environmental footprints, so we have launched this product to help reduce these environmental footprints.

“Oreka is a contact herbicide, which means it only burns when it comes into contact with the plant.

“Let’s say you have a lettuce farmer who sprays and the herbicide catches the lettuce instead of the plant. What will happen is that the lettuce will recuperate at a faster rate than it would have with previous herbicides.

“What we (Hi-Pro) are trying to do is phase out harmful chemicals,”the senior agronomist said.

Last year the company launched four new products that were aimed at improving crop and livestock production as well as boosting farmers’ profitability.

Those products were a larvicide spray called Ectoline; TryClan 50 SP insecticide; a plant nutrient and foliar fertiliser called HerbaGreen; and LongRange, which was designed to control parasites in livestock.