Press
Food safety needs natural crop protection
Lithos Crop Protect GmbH receives EU innovation funding
Press release from February 20, 2023
The Austrian company Lithos Crop Protect GmbH has prevailed as one of the few selected companies among a large number of applicants and has been awarded an EU Accelerator grant. This funding program of the European Innovation Council supports small and medium-sized enterprises that contribute their part to a better and more sustainable future with innovative solutions.
Lithos Crop Protect GmbH is working at full speed on just such a solution. Land resources for agriculture are limited. Nevertheless, a safe and high-quality food supply is needed for the growing population. For this balancing act to succeed, efficient protection against pests must be guaranteed. However, the classic chemical pesticides are strongly criticized and are increasingly restricted and banned. Lithos Crop Protect GmbH is therefore working on natural solutions to this problem.
By means of sex pheromones, which are sprayed onto a mineral carrier, pests can be disturbed in their mating behavior. With the active ingredient pherolit®-d, which is currently undergoing registration, Lithos Crop Protect has already reproduced the sexual pheromone of the female corn rootworm. In this way, reproduction of the western corn rootworm can be reduced in a natural way and the pest can be controlled sustainably. Further applications of the innovative Lithos Micro Dispenser® technology are now being researched with the help of EU support. This method prevents yield losses and rethinks crop protection in a natural way – the specific mode of action is sustainable and ensures biodiversity in the fields of the future.
“We are proud that as a small company we are making such a significant contribution to more sustainable agriculture,” says Dr. Franz Reitbauer, managing director and owner of Lithos Crop Protect GmbH.
“Farmers are looking for innovative and sustainable solutions against pests such as the corn rootworm. With our innovative products, farmers can keep pests below the economic damage threshold in a natural way,” emphasizes Melanie Paumann, employee in the development and registration department at Lithos Crop Protect GmbH.
With this funding commitment from the EU Lithos Crop Protect GmbH has already been awarded innovation funding from the EU’s HORIZON program for the second time. The innovative Austrian team at Lithos Crop Protect sees this as a further confirmation of the successful path the company has taken.
About Lithos:
Lithos Crop Protect is engaged in the development, registration and marketing of biotechnological crop protection solutions. Responsible crop protection makes a valuable contribution to ensuring sustainable agriculture and thus preserving our livelihoods. Accordingly, Lithos Crop Protect is committed to developing innovative and high-quality solutions and bringing them to market. For more information, visit www.lithosprotect.at.
The sister company Lithos Natural develops, manufactures and markets innovative zeolite products for agriculture and industry. Information at www.lithosnatural.at.
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