Crop protection specialist Eden Research PLC (LON:EDEN) said its commercial partner had made the first sales in Italy of Cedroz, which targets soil-dwelling pests called nematodes.
The Eastman Chemical Company is rolling out the breakthrough bio-pesticide following the grant of emergency authorisation for the product in the country.
“Eastman has seized upon this earlier-than-anticipated opportunity to launch Cedroz in order to fully develop the market for this important product, and Eden has been more than happy to support them in their efforts to move the product to commercial use as quickly as possible,” said Eden Research chief executive Sean Smith.
Small and worm-like, certain nematode species are known to cause severe damage to crops in both open fields and greenhouses, resulting in smaller yields and higher costs.
Eden produced and supplied Cedroz to Eastman in March this year in anticipation of regulatory clearance in Italy during the 2019 growing season.