Development and commercialization of the green muscle biopesticide

Locusts are the most feared pests of farmers living around the world’s major deserts. Millions of liters of environmentally damaging pesticides are sprayed over vast areas of land to control them and their grasshopper cousins. This paper tells the life history of the LUBILOSA (Lutte Biologique contr...

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Main Authors: Douthwaite, Boru, Langewald, J., Harris, J.
Format: Libro
Language:Inglés
Published: 2001
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/92691
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author Douthwaite, Boru
Langewald, J.
Harris, J.
author_browse Douthwaite, Boru
Harris, J.
Langewald, J.
author_facet Douthwaite, Boru
Langewald, J.
Harris, J.
author_sort Douthwaite, Boru
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Locusts are the most feared pests of farmers living around the world’s major deserts. Millions of liters of environmentally damaging pesticides are sprayed over vast areas of land to control them and their grasshopper cousins. This paper tells the life history of the LUBILOSA (Lutte Biologique contre les Locustes et Sauteriaux) project, set up in 1989, and the development of a biological pesticide which kills locusts and grasshoppers without harming the environment. Commercial manufacture and real adoption has begun, although the benefits have yet to pay for the US$15 million spent on the project. The project has had some major spin-offs including the development of a similar biopesticide in Australia, and the development of biopesticides to control termites. Good science alone has by no means been the only ingredient of the success so far. One crucial factor has been the willingness of donors to provide funding for the 10 years of research and development often required to turn basic research into a useful product. A second factor is the early forging of partnerships between donors, several research institutes, national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), private sector companies, and farmers that has ensured that sufficient expertise was available when needed. A by- product of this collaboration is the creation of a “constituency of support” around Green Muscle® and it is this constituency which, more than anything, will determine the eventual impact and return on investment of the LUBILOSA project. This is because the eventual level of sales of Green Muscle depends on the correction of the market failure whereby the human and environmental health costs of spraying chemical pesticides are not charged to the purchaser. Policy change is required to correct this and it is in the constituency’s power to bring about this policy change. LUBILOSA project management and donors have shown themselves very aware of this reality by proposing and funding a “stewardship” phase for the project to both lobby the constituency and keep it together during the early adoption 4 phase, as well as to ensure a seamless transfer of researcher knowledge about Green Muscle to the private sector manufacturers. The need for product “stewardship” or “championing” has long been recognized in the private sector but has been absent from a research world which has attempted, until recently, to separate “upstream” basic research from “downstream” adaptive research and extension. Product championing may well be essential for creating and cementing synergies between the public and private sectors and between scientific “knowledge” and practical “know-how”.
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spelling CGSpace926912025-11-11T11:07:29Z Development and commercialization of the green muscle biopesticide Douthwaite, Boru Langewald, J. Harris, J. biopesticides farmers green muscle stewardship lubilosa project locust grasshopper Locusts are the most feared pests of farmers living around the world’s major deserts. Millions of liters of environmentally damaging pesticides are sprayed over vast areas of land to control them and their grasshopper cousins. This paper tells the life history of the LUBILOSA (Lutte Biologique contre les Locustes et Sauteriaux) project, set up in 1989, and the development of a biological pesticide which kills locusts and grasshoppers without harming the environment. Commercial manufacture and real adoption has begun, although the benefits have yet to pay for the US$15 million spent on the project. The project has had some major spin-offs including the development of a similar biopesticide in Australia, and the development of biopesticides to control termites. Good science alone has by no means been the only ingredient of the success so far. One crucial factor has been the willingness of donors to provide funding for the 10 years of research and development often required to turn basic research into a useful product. A second factor is the early forging of partnerships between donors, several research institutes, national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), private sector companies, and farmers that has ensured that sufficient expertise was available when needed. A by- product of this collaboration is the creation of a “constituency of support” around Green Muscle® and it is this constituency which, more than anything, will determine the eventual impact and return on investment of the LUBILOSA project. This is because the eventual level of sales of Green Muscle depends on the correction of the market failure whereby the human and environmental health costs of spraying chemical pesticides are not charged to the purchaser. Policy change is required to correct this and it is in the constituency’s power to bring about this policy change. LUBILOSA project management and donors have shown themselves very aware of this reality by proposing and funding a “stewardship” phase for the project to both lobby the constituency and keep it together during the early adoption 4 phase, as well as to ensure a seamless transfer of researcher knowledge about Green Muscle to the private sector manufacturers. The need for product “stewardship” or “championing” has long been recognized in the private sector but has been absent from a research world which has attempted, until recently, to separate “upstream” basic research from “downstream” adaptive research and extension. Product championing may well be essential for creating and cementing synergies between the public and private sectors and between scientific “knowledge” and practical “know-how”. 2001 2018-05-17T09:03:08Z 2018-05-17T09:03:08Z Book https://hdl.handle.net/10568/92691 en Open Access application/pdf Douthwaite, B., Langewald, J. & Harris, J. (2001). Development and commercialization of the green muscle biopesticide. Ibadan, Nigeria: IITA, (p. 23).
spellingShingle biopesticides
farmers
green muscle
stewardship
lubilosa project
locust
grasshopper
Douthwaite, Boru
Langewald, J.
Harris, J.
Development and commercialization of the green muscle biopesticide
title Development and commercialization of the green muscle biopesticide
title_full Development and commercialization of the green muscle biopesticide
title_fullStr Development and commercialization of the green muscle biopesticide
title_full_unstemmed Development and commercialization of the green muscle biopesticide
title_short Development and commercialization of the green muscle biopesticide
title_sort development and commercialization of the green muscle biopesticide
topic biopesticides
farmers
green muscle
stewardship
lubilosa project
locust
grasshopper
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/92691
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AT harrisj developmentandcommercializationofthegreenmusclebiopesticide