China's Nanchang Agricultural Bureau said it has successfully extracted pesticide elements from garlic and developed an entirely nature-friendly pesticide that also boosts plant growth. The Agricultural Bureau selected 17 vegetable and crop farmers to conduct a three-month controlled experiment in their fields. The results show that the garlic pesticide not only greatly reduces pest damage, but also shortens the time needed for plant growth.

Cabbage farmer Guo Rengen, says that after the experiment the cabbages in his fields are not only pest-free and larger in size, but the time necessary for plant growth has also shortened by 25 days. The garlic pesticide is produced by emulsifying garlic extracts containing sulphurated organic compounds like diallyl trisulphide, diallyl disulphide, allyl methyl sulphide, and active enzymes and selenium. These elements can effectively damage the cell walls of bacteria and fungi to prevent plant diseases.

In addition, the spicy elements in the pesticide can kill pests by irritating the pests' shells or skins. The garlic pesticide also contains more than 40 types of trace elements such as amino acids, phosphor, iron, and zinc, which can simultaneously boost the plants' growth and improve their quality. A spokesman for the Bureau says this garlic pesticide, which will initially be promoted locally, does not contain any poisonous chemical elements and will be very helpful toward solving the problem of chemical pesticide overuse.