Biological Fungicides: A Key Element in Farmers’ Toolboxes

By CropLife Staff|August 2, 2018

One great challenge of modern agriculture is to find disease control mechanisms that are efficient alternatives to those of chemical options, writes Gabriel Mina on AgriBusinessGlobal.com. The goal is to find coherent solutions that account for the need to increase productivity while respecting the environment.

In the framework of a public-private partnership Rizobacter, in conjunction with the area of bio-inputs from the National Institute of Agricultural Technology of Castelar (INTA Castelar according to its Acronym in Spanish), developed a highly-efficient pathogen biocontrol agent for wheat and soybean seeds with excellent results in field trials.

Thanks to many years of research and development, this bio-fungicide is already positioned to become an instrument for the control of pathogens that affect the seed germination process and seedling development on wheat and soybean. It is part of the next generation seed-care products that are 100% biological, apt for organic agriculture, and easier to handle, while also eliminating the environmental risk.