Using tea tree oil to fight agricultural problems. That’s today’s This Land of Ours.
Tea tree oil is a home remedy for many things, everything from acne to insect bites, but it also has a use in large-scale agriculture. Dr. Eric Tedford with Summit Agro USA, which recently launched a new tea tree oil product, says the oil provides added benefits to a conventional fungicide.
“Tea tree oil and botanical product that comes from the tea tree plant which is native to Australia. Historically, the benefits from tea tree oil against human pathogens because back to the Aborigines and today you’ll find tea tree oil in toothpaste, skin lotions and a vast number of products that we use daily. More recently, the benefits of tea tree oil had been identified for plant disease control. Tea tree oil contains several constituent terpene hydrocarbons with eight main components. Because the active ingredients have multiple components to impart several different mechanisms of activity against fungal and bacterial plant pathogens.”
That company’s product is for rice, pecans, and soybeans, but other tea tree oil products are used on a variety of crops such as fruit trees, vegetables, bananas, and even coffee.
Listen to Sabrina Halvorson’s This Land of Ours program here.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.