• Question: Why is increasing yields of nematodes useful?

    Asked by anon-253421 to Jacque on 6 May 2020.
    • Photo: Jacque Cilliers

      Jacque Cilliers answered on 6 May 2020:

      Great question…

      So, this is what happens:
      We produce nematodes as a biological pesticide. Basically, we grow millions of them in very large, silver containers called fermenters. It takes about 4 weeks to grow nematodes from only a few thousand, to literally millions.
      Once they are all grown up, we take them out of the fermenter (the big container) and we put them in packs and sell them to farmers. They are in a dormant state, like being asleep.
      The farmer buys a pack, puts them in water and waters his crops. The nematodes move around on the leaves and in the soil looking for insects to kill and eat.
      The more nematodes we can make in the first stage, the more we can sell to farmers, and the more money we can make.
      Nematodes are in high demand, and a lot of farmers want to buy them because they are eco-friendly. We run out of nematodes often, so making more nematodes will help more farmers protect their crops.

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