Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. has announced its first blueberry order in California. The Fresno-based customer will be using BVT’s proprietary Vectorite with CR-7 (Clonostachys rosea CR-7) biological fungicide and natural precision agriculture system on their blueberry crops and has also committed to a demonstration trial on their cherry orchards.
“This order is another clear demonstration that our strong customer base continues to actively experience significant improvement in yield and quality of their crops as a result of using the BVT system and are happy to recommend us to other growers,” said Ian Collinson, Sales Manager at BVT. “The grower’s decision to extend the BVT system’s use from blueberries to stone fruit is an exciting opportunity for us to further scale our business not only through increasing acreage with existing customers, but also to diversify our crops coverage, which significantly increases our overall addressable market.”
This newest customer was made aware of BVT’s effectiveness through contacts in Oregon who use the BVT system. The customer’s goals are to improve fruit quality, increase yield and better manage disease. Expanding the use of BVT’s system from blueberries to cherries will be highly efficient with almost no additional time or labor required, since the cherry bloom will transition with the end of the blueberry bloom.
The opportunity for BVT in California is significant. The state is the country’s largest berry market: an estimated 55,000 acres of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries make up 30% of all American berry acreage.
As a 100% organic product that is naturally delivered, the BVT system dovetails well into the California market, controlling disease and increasing yield while being exempt from key residue testing requirements.
The United States is also the world’s second-largest cherry producer, second only to Turkey. Cherries utilize the most acreage of all stone fruits with an estimated 85,000 acres. Washington, California and Oregon grow almost 90% of the total yield.
Firmness and quality are very important in berries and stone fruits, especially for the export market, where growers can garner much higher prices than they can domestically. An estimated US$502.9 million worth of cherries (66,960 metric tons) are exported every year.
For more information:
Ashish Malik
Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc.
info@beevt.com
www.beevt.com