News
Toronto firm to develop green pesticide products with Aussie company
Toronto-based McVicar Resources and its Chinese subsidiary, Zhejiang Hongbo Chemical, are partnering with an Australian company to develop new pesticide products using insect pheromone synthesis technology for the crop and fruits sectors.
April 10, 2008 By McVicar Resources
April 10, 2008
TORONTO — McVicar Resources Inc. ("McVicar") is pleased to announce that its Chinese subsidiary, Zhejiang Hongbo Chemical Co. Ltd. ("Hongbo"), has signed a letter of confidentiality with an Australian company to develop new pesticide products for agricultural use applying insect pheromone synthesis technology. The new products make use of insect pheromones to control insect pests in crops and fruits.
The new products have the advantages of being highly efficient, non-toxic and have no environmental pollutants as compared to traditional chemical pesticides. Long-term uncontrolled use of chemical pesticides can cause many side effects, such as the pest's resistance to the chemical, damage to the ecological balance, and environmental pollution. Insect pheromones are biological chemicals that insects secrete for a means of transmitting information. By copying certain pheromones the insect's reproductive cycle can be disrupted and the insects lured away from sensitive areas. Current progress in pheromone research has made it possible for many pheromone products to be put into application.
Hongbo produces intermediate chemicals for traditional pesticide producers. As many of the insect pheromones are non-saturated aliphatic compounds, and some are fat and heterocyclic compounds, Hongbo's photo-chlorination technology is applicable for the pheromone synthesis. The announced collaboration calls for development of several new pesticides products using insect pheromone technology. With the additional support of the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, a valuable R&D partner to Hongbo, it is possible the cooperation can deliver commercial products within a short time period.
"I am very excited with the new direction we are heading", said Dr. Gang Chai, President & CEO of McVicar, "It marks our strategy of becoming a technologically efficient and environmentally friendly company. China is a country with a huge agriculture market. The dramatic increase of agricultural products, the increased investment on agriculture from the Chinese government and tightened environmental policies are favourable conditions for our future growth in this sector".
Hongbo is a Chinese subsidiary of McVicar Resources Inc. It has developed over 30 advanced intermediate chemical products for the personal care, industrial and pharmaceutical industries with close corporation with the highest ranked chemical organization in China, the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry under the China Academy of Sciences. Recently, the company has won numerous significant order contracts and government awards.
