Provivi raises $85m Series C to confuse farm pests with pheromones

It currently provides pheromone pest management products to other businesses that serve the orchard industry where the technology has been used for over thirty years in high-value crops like apples and grapes. Chemical pesticides have been the primary tool that farmers have used to thwart infestations, but the widescale use of these often harmful products has created serious problems for agriculture’s impact on the environment. Once you have resistance, most farmers spray more of the same product, which is exactly what you shouldn’t do because it can reduce biodiversity in the field,” Pedro Coelho, co-founder and CEO of pheromone pest management startup Provivi told AFN. Provivi is the first startup to plant its flag in the unexplored row crop pheromone pest management space and it aims to tackle both challenges by hiring the best talent around. It’s a problem for which we have a very good solution.” The fall armyworm is also present in the US, but because most American corn is grown in temperate climates with serious winters, the tropical-loving pest doesn’t thrive to the same extent as it does in more humid regions.