With their bug-banishing products the Andermatts have been proving for years that natural crop protection works. Swiss public television, SRF meets the entrepreneurs behind this success story. (SRF, swissinfo.ch)
The Andermatts, Isabel, 59 and Martin, 58 are partners in life as in business. They are Switzerland’s pioneers in organic crop protection. Thirty years ago the only products for crop protection were chemicals. The Andermatts then established themselves as important organic crop protection innovators, with their virus-based product.
In 1986 the Andermatts researched and developed a method that used granulosis virus to combat the codling moth, a pest that at the time infested up to 50% of Swiss farmers’ apple crops. By 1987, after successful field trials they had received the provisional approval to market their product, which is now known as ‘Madex’.
At present the group Andermatt Holding has a diverse product portfolio of biological plant protection and biological veterinary medicines and includes multiple companies in Switzerland and around the world.
In the series ‘Swiss Pioneers’, Swiss Public Television, SRF, meets Swiss nationals at home and abroad who have made a name for themselves in their area of expertise.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.