Why crop protection is important
Occasionally it fades a little into the background of our consciousness next to new, overwhelming topics, but hunger is still one of the most pressing problems in the world. After all, well over 850 million people worldwide suffer from hunger. Dried crops and pests are a depressing part of everyday life in countless countries, including Europe. And after the harvest, mould often destroys the crop during transport and storage before it can be consumed.
If the world’s population keeps increasing and the climate continues to deteriorate, food shortages will undoubtedly top the list of consequences.
But how can we secure high-yielding harvests without poisoning the environment and ultimately ourselves? Is there any biologically harmless crop protection that works reliably and, above all, without side effects?
The problem with traditional plant protection products:
Whether it’s fungicides, herbicides or insecticides: The traditional approach is mostly aimed at making harmful organisms incapable. Whether insects or mould – killing the attacker should provide protection for the plant. But what does that mean for consumers?
Widely used pesticides – also very controversially discussed ones – have long been detectable in the body of many people. There is often talk of carcinogenic or genotoxic effects. So we not only poison the pests, but also our food and, in the long term, ourselves. Not to mention the death of beneficial insects such as bees.
Are there alternatives? Wouldn’t rethinking mean protecting the plant instead of attacking the pest?
A short digression into forestry: “Tree tubes” is what the wrappings are called which protect young trees in the forest from voracious animals. The same physical principle but in a smaller version would be ideal for agriculture, but of course we cannot put every ear of wheat into a protective cover.
Or can we?
A new way to protect plants:
If it were possible to coat crops, medicinal herbs, ornamental- (and useful-)plants with a layer that on the one hand physically protects them against pests, but depending on requirements also against UV radiation and other stress factors, and on the other hand is non-toxic and bio-degradable, an enormous step would be taken in the fight against crop failure and hunger.
Woulda, shoulda, coulda?
With Nanopool, exactly this vision has long become reality! An ultra-thin protective layer makes the plant unattractive to pests, invulnerable to mould and can even block radiation. This not only prevents damage to the plant – it has also been proven that the self-protection energy saved in this way leads to faster growth!
By the way: even larger pests such as termites lose their appetite through the NP® coating without the animals having to be killed!
A study in India provided exciting results: one of two pieces of wood of identical size was provided with the protective layer. Both test objects were then buried in a termite area southeast of Mumbai.
After a period of several months, which included both a dry season and a monsoon season, the two pieces of wood were recovered. While the termites had eaten around three quarters of the unprotected wood, they completely ignored the coated piece next to it. Without toxic additives and with full retention of the breathability of the wood, it could be efficiently protected in a natural way. A gift for every termite-afflicted region!
