AgraQuest's CEO forges a biopesticide interest group.(Brief Article)

Feeling left out of the loop of trade organizations that represent farm chemical producers and biotechnology firms, a group of biopesticide makers has banded together to form the Biopesticide Industry Alliance.

"We believe that the key issue with biopesticides is perception in the marketplace," said the alliance's chairwoman, Pam Marrone of Davis. "Because there are much lower barriers of entry (to the marketplace) for biopesticides than there are for chemicals, you get a lot of little companies working in this area. Not everybody might have the sophistication of the bigger companies in product development and quality control."

The alliance will seek to …