Record Attendance, Optimism Mark BPIA 10th Anniversary Meeting
October 1, 2010 The Biopesticide Industry Alliance (BPIA) celebrated a decade of growth this week as representatives from more than 50 companies and governmental agencies filled the meeting room for its 2010 biannual meeting in Sacramento, CA.
“Biopesticides are on a fast growth track, but we have a lot more work to do,” said Pam Marrone, the alliance’s founding director. When the first meeting was held in 2000, the entire membership consisted of only seven companies.
“We were a niche industry when BPIA formed,” said Eda Reinot, the current board chairman. “But that isn’t the case anymore. Many new companies have since formed to develop, produce, and market biologicals.”
The mission of BPIA is to increase the awareness of biopesticides as effective products for commercial agriculture, public health, and home use. The alliance also works to enhance the regulatory process for getting new products approved and to provide quality networking opportunities for members and affiliates.
“We are developing new committees to improve the public perception of biopesticides and to improve understanding of these products among legislators,” said Bill Foster, a current board member who was also at the first meeting in 2000. Foster explained that BPIA was formed as a regulatory organization. “But now, we are also focusing on the commercialization of biopesticides,” he said.
The Sacramento event this year focused on the value of biopesticides in resistance management and featured a broad range of speakers offering industry and governmental perspectives.
For more information, go to www.biopesticideindustryalliance.org.