Taking a BioPowered Approach to Crop Protection Research and Development
June 18, 2026 Editor’s note: The following article was originally published on CropLife’s sister site, Growing Produce.
Ever since the first biological crop protection products came onto the scene, growers have found themselves confronting a seemingly black-and-white product choice: biological or synthetic? Summit Agro USA believes growers are moving beyond viewing biological and synthetic crop protection tools as separate categories. The company’s newly launched BioPowered™ line reflects that thinking by combining biological and synthetic active ingredients in a single formulation.
Summit Agro USA CEO Justin Gayliard says advances in biological active ingredients (AIs) enable crop protection suppliers to pair them with conventional AIs for enhanced performance. “This is a new era of agricultural chemistry,” he says.
Growers increasingly have to balance efficacy, economics, resistance management, and spray-program fit when evaluating products, adds Robyn Lawson, Field Marketing Manager. Hybrid products can simplify some of those decisions.
Fungicides Regev and Regev HBX represent the first products in the line, and they include the well-known synthetic AI difenoconazole with the biological AI tea tree oil or tea tree extract.
“Regev was the first hybrid fungicide registered in the U.S.,” points out Dr. Eric Tedford, Field R&D Technical Lead, adding that growers often respond with skepticism when learning about the product. “They expect that the conventional product is doing all of the lifting, which is why we’ve done so much research to show that the tea tree oil provides control, too.”
Tedford noted that other companies have introduced similar hybrid products since Regev hit the market, and he pointed out the resistance-management benefits these options provide growers.
“We need new modes of action to control diseases,” explains Tedford. “Growers’ choice for disease control has been limited to [resistance codes] 3s, 7s and 11s or some combination thereof.”
Tea tree extract (a BM-01) provides broad-spectrum control of many fungal and bacterial plant pathogens and anti-sporulant activity, Tedford adds.
“Which gives growers a new mode of action for disease control,” he says.
Regev and Regev HBX is registered in California and is labeled for a broad range of crops, including tree nuts, stone and pome fruit, citrus and many vegetables.
BioPowered products are not Summit Agro USA’s entire product lineup, but the company’s R&D efforts are focused on identifying additional worthwhile biological and synthetic combinations. Still, they may introduce new conventional products or new biological products.
“Crops need both biological and synthetic solutions,” observes Lawson. “Synthetic chemistries and biological chemistries are going to become more frequent tank mix partners on the acre.”
Lawson hopes products like Regev help growers become more comfortable with biological products because that would actually be good for synthetic products.
“Crops need biological and synthetic solutions,” she notes, adding that she expects to see the number of tank mix combinations of synthetic with biological AIs increase whether they come out of the same jug or multiple jugs. “Now growers have a product that feels familiar thanks to its AI (difenoconazole) that is a bridge to building trust with biologicals.
“Fewer synthetic chemistries are coming to the market than ever,” she continues. “We need to intelligently steward the active ingredients that we have today. Biological products can be a tool to reduce resistance risk and extend the life of synthetic chemistries.”
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