Spanish pepper grower successful with predatory mite

Located in Paraje La Cumbre, El Ejido (Spain), Agrosol Export operates a thirty-hectare farm cultivating tomatoes, cucumbers and sweet peppers in multitunnels. The company's produce is sold on the domestic as well as the international market to the UK and other EU countries.

At the start of this year, just after the product's market launch in Spain, Agrosol Export started using Ulti-Mite Swirski on ‘Ramiro,’ a variety of sweet pointed pepper. The company was already familiar with the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii. ‘We've had a close working relationship with Koppert Spain for years now, and we really trust their products,’ says the manager of Agrosol, Andrés Romero Funes. ‘We're working with Koppert to utilize the full potential of biological crop protection.’

Resistant to heat, drought, and moisture
Ulti-Mite Swirski is one of Koppert's more recent innovations and is based on the extremely effective beneficial Amblyseius swirskii. The Ulti-Mite Swirski has a new slow-release bag made with specially designed material that is extremely resistant to drought and moisture. The new, 100% industrially compostable bag is now more resistant to climatic conditions in greenhouses, tunnels, and outdoor crops, while the sachet creates the best possible environment for Amblyseius swirskii to build up its population. The product's hook has also been reinforced.

‘We released a per-square-metre dose of 250 Ulti-Mite Swirski specimens three days after replanting,’ explains Andrés Romero Funes. ‘At the end of January, we added a further 50 predatory mites per square metre. We occasionally introduce more specimens if there is a higher infestation level, but that's not often the case in the Ramiro section.’

‘A stronger system’
Agrosol Export is extremely pleased with how Ulti-Mite Swirski is performing. ‘We've noticed a stronger growth in the population of predatory mites, which sets up home in the crop quickly and effectively. The predatory mites immediately attack thrips eggs, halting their development cycle. They also control whitefly larvae in the L1 stage and prey on spider mites.’

Agrosol plans to continue its use of Ulti-Mite Swirski. The manager says the product works like clockwork. ‘The product is perfect. It pays off to select the right dose and follow Koppert Spain's technical advice: we've really noticed how much stronger the biological system has become. As far as we’re concerned, Ulti-Mite Swirski is currently the best product on the market.’

For more information:
Koppert Biological Systems
info@koppert.com
www.koppert.com