BOOSTER-Mag accepted into Food Innovation Australia Limited’s Book

Calix BOOSTER-Mag has been accepted into the third edition of Food Innovation Australia Limited’s (FIAL) book, ‘Celebrating Australian Food and Agribusiness Innovations, ’which showcases 50 diverse innovations that span the entire food value chain.

FIAL is an industry-led, government funded initiative that works to grow Australia’s food and agribusiness industry through innovation and collaboration.

BOOSTER-Mag has been manufactured using Calix’s mineral processing technology, Calix Flash Calcination (CFC), which produces unique, high-activity, and non-toxic minerals that are proving to be bio-active against common plant pests and pathogens.

Phil Hodgson, CEO, Calix, said, “Global concern regarding the adverse environmental, production, and consumer impacts of chemical use in the agronomy sector is driving rapid change. Calix saw an opportunity to apply its CFC technology to pest and disease control in agriculture.

“The ability of bio-active minerals to inhibit common plant diseases and insect pests had already been established and reported. However, high production costs, the inability to manufacture at scale, and health and environmental concerns regarding nano-sized particles had prevented their use in agriculture. Despite these challenges, Calix knew it had the innovation, technological capacity, and scientific knowhow to develop safe and effective bio-active mineral products competitively.”

Following multiple trials in the lab and field, Calix developed BOOSTER-Mag as a low-cost, safe pest and disease control product. An Australian government ‘Accelerating Commercialisation’ grant let Calix undertake independent assessments to validate the product’s safety and effectiveness. The product can easily be applied via conventional farm equipment and, unlike many development products, BOOSTER-Mag can already be manufactured at commercial scale. A clear point of difference to other pest and disease control products is that BOOSTER-Mag’s magnesium base is an important contributor to plant health.

Phil Hodgson said,

“BOOSTER-Mag is already being applied at full-farm scale by commercial growers and has the potential to minimise and, in some cases, even eliminate the use of conventional pesticides. It is also demonstrating reduced grower production costs without compromising yield and quality.”