Crop Protection Strategies: Traditional Methods and New Innovations

Even under the best conditions, crops need our assistance to survive the numerous threats that limit production. Classically, synthetic and natural compounds have been used to control insects, fungi and weeds, sometimes with negative collateral effects or fostering resistance of genetically tolerant genotypes. Todd Hauser from Trillium Ag describes his company's novel RNAi approach.  RNAi can be used to target specific insect species, and his company's design and particle-based technology appears to offer safety, effectiveness, and specificity. We discuss the use of RNAi and how it may be a key point of crop protection strategies, along with its inherent challenges.