Suterra’s Puffer products added to Phytech’s digital farming platform

Bend, Oregon-based Suterra, a sustainable pheromone pest control company, announced Oct. 27 a new partnership agreement with Phytech. The agreement adds Suterra’s Puffer aerosol pheromone mating disruption products to Phytech’s digital farming platform with integrated plant health and irrigation IoT monitor and control service.

The partnership delivers a comprehensive solution to help growers optimize irrigation, nutrition and pest control, a news release stated.

While Suterra has long-standing and valued distribution partnerships with hundreds of agrichemical retailers nationwide and internationally, the company is expanding its partnership strategy to include proven global precision ag providers. Suterra vetted the best providers in the world to create new product-focused partnerships that deliver exceptional value to growers.

“We have seen the adoption of Phytech’s farming platform with its unique in-field monitor and control capabilities by leading growers all across our key markets. This new product-focused partnership with Phytech is built to ensure we encourage further adoption of mating disruption in a way that will meet the needs of the growers as they advance their operation towards a more digital future,” Carlos Bassa, senior director and head of North America at Suterra, said in the news release.

Oren Kind, chief commercial officer and Phytech U.S. general manager added: “We’re very happy to partner with a world-leading and innovative company such as Suterra and create even more value for our growers. The Puffer is the most trusted solution for aerosol mating disruption, used on more acres than any other brand of pheromone in the U.S. We’re excited to make it accessible and hassle free for growers through our service.”

In addition to adding pest control, Phytech is expanding its platform features to include granular climate monitoring of temperature and humidity per block. “This is a natural step in realizing our vision to bring growers the most complete and cost-effective platform to help them manage and optimize their farm horticulture,” said Kind.

Suterra’s new partnership aligns with their strategy to encourage further adoption of proven mating disruption strategies throughout California. Mating disruption is an effective, sustainable pest control solution that works by releasing naturally occurring sex pheromones in an orchard to reduce adult males’ ability to find females. This disrupts the mating cycle, suppresses pest populations and damage and helps address insecticide resistance without harming beneficial insects.

Puffer aerosol mating disruption reduces the population of economically damaging pests including navel orangeworm, codling moth and oriental fruit moth. These three pests are especially problematic for permanent orchard crops like almonds, pistachios, peaches, nectarines, apricots, apples, pears, walnuts, figs and pomegranates.

As part of an integrated pest management program, Suterra has proven its mating disruption products can significantly reduce damage. Puffer products are used on over 400,000 acres in California, making them the most popular and most trusted aerosol mating disruption solution in the world.

Phytech is the only production optimization solution that integrates tree-data, AI-based recommendations, IoT network and hydraulic monitoring and automation. Phytech’s plant-AI & IoT based digital farming platform is used by 600 top-tier growers on approximately 15,000 farms across the U.S, Australia and other parts of the world.

Grower-owned by The Wonderful Company, Suterra is part of one of the world’s largest agricultural companies and the global leader in pheromone pest control products. Leveraging over 30 years of experience, Suterra produces hundreds of products used in growing regions across six continents.

Suterra’s state-of-the-art facility in Bend, Oregon integrates all aspects of the business under one roof: research and development, large-scale pheromone synthesis, product engineering and manufacturing. Suterra’s pest control solutions come in several different forms including proprietary aerosol emitters, sprayable formulations, membrane dispensers and specialized monitoring lures.

Suterra demonstrates its commitment to sustainability through the Clean Orchard Promise – a nationwide recycling and refurbishment program that ensures that no Puffer materials remain in the fields at no additional cost to the grower.

The Puffer platform is part of Suterra’s pioneering portfolio of mating disruption products for pest control. Pest control specialists and growers interested in learning more about the Puffer and how mating disruption can reduce damage in their crops should contact a Suterra sales representative by emailing customercare@suterra.com

For more information about Suterra, visit www.suterra.com.