How We Started

Crop Defenders was developed and devised by the founder, Dr. Ishtiaq Rao. Before Dr. Rao was “Dr.” Rao, he saw how much money there was to be made in pesticide sales, so he decided to study entomology. At this time, agricultural pest control strategies were entirely based on pesticides. One year into his entomology program, Dr. Ishtiaq Rao would witness chemical sprays that caused birds to fall from the air, dead. Some time later, he visited hospitals and witnessed people who were very sick as a result of rampant pesticide use. He used to see people come to the villages for fresh air, now the villagers themselves were dying for fresh air. It was after seeing all this that he made the decision to never sell chemical pesticides and made the life-changing decision to get into biologicals.

Dr. Rao committed his life to finding the best biological solutions to help growers. He has spent countless hours working in and on farms, and helping growers see first-hand how much more effective biologicals are to producing more profitable and higher yielding crops. He was so passionate and felt so convicted of this, that decades ago he bet one grower $10k that biological control would work better than pesticides at reducing his pest problem. It did. And Crop Defenders took flight. It is this passion that has fueled Crop Defenders’ success and growth.

Our Philosophy

At Crop Defenders, we keep the environment at heart. Unlike our competitors, we only sell biological methods. We believe that bios can, with some knowledge, control most pests as well if not better than pesticides. We recognize that pesticides are a useful tool in some cases; we sometimes recommend them based on how bad the situation is.

The difference is this: When we recommend pesticides, we do not make any money off of them. It is our belief that biologicals are the best long term solution.

Our goal is to help our growers come up with the best possible plan to have the highest yield while minimizing risks and costs.