Horticultural supply and engineering company Royal Brinkman Canada’s UniMite bio-distributor premiered at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference, between 4-5 October 2023 in Niagara Falls.
Bio-spreader technology is used to distribute natural enemies easily and uniformly throughout the crop. Proper distribution of bios ensures best results and a successful IPM program. Maximising the number of natural enemies and getting them in the right place to do their pest control work is key.
Royal Brinkman has been offering their expertise, advice and specialized equipment for the deployment of biological crop protection for many years. Kameron Fordyce, branch manager of Royal Brinkman Canada says: “In our range you will find AgroBio biological control agents and beneficial insects and now, the application technology calibrated to distribute AgroBio products. Our agronomy and scouting team develops tailor-made programs specific to crop type, crop stage and pest pressure to optimise yield and crop quality.”
Bio dispersal can be done by hand, but is extremely labour-intensive and less accurate. “We see significant labour savings and the most uniform bio distribution using the UniMite bio-spreader systems, such as the UniMite Air and the UniMite Slider. Growers can accomplish an even distribution of predatory mites and feeder mites throughout the crop, quickly and efficiently. This makes biological control even more successful and significantly reduces the labour requirements,” says Fordyce.
UniMite Air is a bio-blower system that uniformly spreads predatory mites over a width of 10 meters. This UniMite system can be used on a pipe rail or monorail system in many ornamental crops such as chrysanthemum, roses and more.
The UniMite Slider is mounted on a pipe rail trolley and is ideal for use in cucumbers. One employee operates the UniMite Slider, which directs the bio spreader pipes above the crop, treating two rows of plants in one pass. With the UniMite Slider, biological material is placed in the middle of the top of the plants. A UniMite Slider will be on display at the Royal Brinkman Canada booth #815 at CGC 2023. UniMite bio-distribution systems can be customized for by crop and greenhouse.
Royal Brinkman Canada has biocontrol agents, the UniMite systems for easy, uniform, lower-labour bio-distribution and the agronomic expertise and scouting services to provide growers with successful, tailored-made IPM programs. They can help optimise bio programs for growers with all levels of IPM experience.