Eden Research and Corteva Agriscience announce Ecovelex™2023 approval in Italy

Corteva Agriscience and Eden Research announced that Ecovelex™ 2023 has been granted, according to Reg. EU/1107/2009, a temporary approval in Italy for use as a bird repellent seed treatment in corn for the 2024 growing season. Eden is an AIM listed company that develops and supplies sustainable solutions for crop protection, animal health and consumer products.

Developed by Corteva and Eden, Ecovelex represents a new entrant into the seed treatment market and is an alternative to conventional chemicals that are not approved in the EU and UK. It was developed to safely tackle crop destruction caused by birds - a major cause of losses in maize and other crops. 

Ecovelex works by creating an unpleasant taste or odour that repels birds, leaving the seeds safely intact and the birds unaffected and free to find alternative food sources.

The product is based on Eden's plant-derived chemistry, registered in the EU, U.S. and elsewhere, and formulated using Eden's Sustaine^® microencapsulation system. It is designed to support farmers as they strive to meet consumer and regulatory demands for more sustainable agriculture.

Leonardo Costa, EMEA Seed Applied Technologies Leader at Corteva Agriscience, said, "We are pleased to announce that farmers in Italy will have the opportunity to use maize seed that has been treated with Ecovelex to help control the damage frequently caused by birds. Ecovelex is a safe, effective and sustainable alternative to conventional crop protection products. Every year, farmers face heavy losses caused by birds, and recent regulatory changes have meant that the conventional approaches to combating crop damage are no longer available. 

"This represents a huge step forward in sustainable plant chemistry. Eden's team has done an excellent job of helping us tackle one of the tremendous challenges faced by today's farmers, and we look forward to expanding upon this work in the future."

Sean Smith, Eden CEO, said, "Eden's collaboration with Corteva Agriscience over the past several years has been highly productive, and I am pleased to see the first real-world benefits from these activities supporting farmers' requirements in Italy.  

"Together, we are bringing another safe and effective product to market in near record time through efficient, open collaboration. This is ultimately a win for farmers who will have a new, effective tool for improving crop yields, safely and sustainably."

Eden has submitted the regulatory dossier and application to Austria, which will act as the interzonal rapporteur member state on behalf of the EU. Review and authorisation can take between 18 and 24 months, with each EU member state then able to ratify the authorisation or require additional information before granting local authorisations.