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The crop protection industry is dominated by the large multinational agro-chemical companies. The biocontrol business is minute in comparison, with less than 10% of global sales of crop protection products. The future of the biocontrol industry is based on a range of interacting factors and difficult to predict the future, however many are suggesting that its future is likely to grow. There are numerous drivers for the use of biological control.

Pesticide resistance
Whether a pest or a disease, most organisms have the ability to become resistant to a large range of pesticides. This is often seen in the field where one season a particular pesticide works well and later the efficacy is not there. Resistance has been reported in many common groups of insecticides and fungicides.

There occurrence of resistance to a biological control is virtually unknown. For instance in Kenya the wide spread adoption of t

Governments and the regulators he use of predatory mites was mainly due the fact that many of the conventional pesticides were not working due to resistance.

Broadly around the global, the authorities are trying to reduce the reliance on conventional pesticides. For instance EU have launched an action plan which has the objective to reduce pesticides, in compliance with the EU’s Sustainable Use Directive.

The aim is to reduce the dependency of farms on plant protection products (up to 50% reduction in ten years), while at the same time maintaining agricultural production at a high level in both quality and quantity terms. Another and more dramactic example of how governments can affect the use of pesticides is that the EU has placed severe restrictions on the use of a number of Active Igredients which include imidacloprid (Confidor), thiaclorpid (Calypso), acetamiprid (Golan) and thiamethoxam (Actara) are likely to be under pressure for years to come and this will not only be reflected in the EU but also Kenya as well. For instance the UK supermarket has given notice to its suppliers world-wide. Therefore can biological control fill the vacuum left by the regulators withdrawing pesticides?

KRA Vs VD Berg Who will brink First

The taxman has accused a Naivasha-based company of restricting the sale of its flowers to its parent firm in the Netherlands to avoid paying taxes to the Kenyan Government.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has claimed in court that Van den Berg Kenya Ltd (VDB-K) has been selling most of its flowers to its Dutch parent firm at extremely low prices to cut the amount of tax it can pay.

VDB-K has sued the taxman to stop a Sh1.1 billion demand it says the authority has grossly exaggerated. But the KRA says in-depth audits into VDB-K revealed that the company has been colluding with its parent firm to dodge taxes.

The KRA also claims that VDB-K failed to provide crucial information such as details of sales between it and its Dutch parent. The taxman adds that some of the documents provided were written in Dutch, making it hard to use a tax calculation method agreeable to both parties.

“In particular, VDB-K failed to give transaction details with customer names, flower varieties, sizes and prices which information was necessary to establish the end-customer buying price on transaction by transaction basis,” the KRA says.

Court order barring the KRA “VDB-K provided certain documents in Dutch language, described by its tax agents as casual agents invoices. A review of these documents revealed that the persons listed therein were the same individuals listed in the shared cost analysis,” says Mr Patrick Chege, a manager in the Domestic Taxes Department.

The Dutch-owned company has secured a court order barring the KRA from claiming the amount until Justice George Odunga has determined the suit.

By Joseph Muita Powdery mildew is caused by a fungus called Sphaerothecapannosa, it is one of the most widespread and easily identifiable plant fungal disease.

By Maurice Koome

Description

Downy mildew is a fungal disease that causes destruction of leaves, stems, and flowers of the infected plant. Downy mildew causal organism is called Peronosporasparsa and as the scientific name indicates, the production of spores is sparse and therefore this disease is difficult to diagnose and control.

Downy mildew (Oomycete fungi) are referred to as a high risk pathogens because of the following factors;

• Oomycetes fungi are able to spread in an explosive manner under favorable conditions.
• Short development cycle (8-10 days under optimum conditions)
• High potential for reproduction (high quantities of spores)
• Wide propagation by water and wind
• Damage is not reversible: The damaged tissues die in general leading quickly to substantial losses at harvest
• High genetic variability: Rapid appearance of strains less sensitive to specifically acting fungicides possible.

Enjoy their Sterling Products and Prompt Service. What is in a name and colour? These are some of the questions that oftentimes strike curious minds.

The main category of China’s flower import is seedball, whose amount of imports reached 91.34 million dollars, accounting for 42.6% of total imports with year-on-year

By GBGE Committee March is the beginning of spring, the most suitable season for admiring the beauty of flowers in Guangzhou. Every March in Guangzhou,

Amiran’s agro- innovations have involved new, science-based products and processes that offer growers reliable methods for increasing productivity. Grizly, Amiran’s new product from Adama is

In an ever increasingly competitive and global business environment, Brexit has hit particularly hard companies operating in the trade and distribution of cut flowers and

Ask any coach and He will tell you that when his fate depends on competitors’ match, the situation is out of control. So, it is with Kenya as our fate will be determined by Tanzania and other EAC Countries. The truth is, we are in a catch 22 situation. This is the time for Kenya to think outside the Box and redeem its flower and export sector.

Faced with the pressures of loss of foreign direct investment, loss of employment , capital movement and the threat that companies will relocate unless provided with concessions to cushion the EU tax regime such as more lax regulations and lower taxes, government must respond by promoting tax incentives to attract and retain investment capital.

Having limited economic options Kenya should move to tax competition as a central part of their sector development strategy to attract and retain the companies in the country.

Why?

A number of growers say the business is no longer a profitable undertaking under the current business cost regime. In case the EPA is not signed, this will require urgent measures to cushion producers against unhealthy competition from countries with less costly systems.