Certis Biologicals’ New Biofungicide Offers Many Benefits for Row Crop Growers
Certis Biologicals’ Karla Medina needs both hands to count on her fingers the many reasons why more growers are embracing biological pesticides in their farming operations. The biggest reason is improved performance, says Medina, Ph.D., the company’s Director of Field Development, noting the care that Certis Biologicals has taken to ensure that biological products are reliable and trustworthy. But there are more motives for their increased use, she adds.
“Biologicals fit well into integrated pest management (IPM) programs and provide a more sustainable and transparent option for growers,” Medina states. “Many biological products are more affordable.”
Medina says some biologicals are also compatible with synthetic products and can be tank mixed and applied with them, saving growers time and labor. She adds that biologicals can help synthetic chemistries combat resistance issues and that biologicals leave behind no residue and have a zero preharvest interval.
All these reasons are why Certis Biologicals, a global leader in biological solutions for organic and conventional agriculture, has added a new biological to its product line for row crop growers. And the product, Convergence™ biofungicide, does even more than many biological fungicides.
Convergence combines high-performing disease control and plant health benefits into one economical and convenient solution. It protects against soilborne fungal and bacterial diseases caused by the primary pathogens in row crops: Pythium, Rhizoctonia, Fusarium and Phytophthora. It can be applied in-furrow or as a foliar.
“Most chemistries traditionally have one mode of action, but Convergence offers several modes of action,” Medina says. “It produces compounds that have antifungal and antibacterial components. It can outcompete pathogens and assist plants with nutrient uptake.”
The plant health benefits of Convergence are unique because it produces natural compounds that interact with plant exudates, Medina explains. “The microbial established around the roots helps plants mitigate stress,” she notes.
The biological strain in Convergence also solubilizes phosphate and colonizes in the root zone, creating a protective barrier around it, which keeps pathogens from affecting roots, adds Chris Judd, Vice President of North America for Certis Biologicals. “It’s a hardy strain that outcompetes pathogens,” he says.
Because Convergence is EPA registered, growers and agricultural retailers can be confident in its safety, efficacy, and legitimacy, Judd notes. “We went through EPA registration because we believe in our products and want to put them through the most rigorous standards possible,” he adds.
Data Equates to Performance
How does Certis Biologicals know that growers will find Convergence reliable and effective? The answer is in five words: research, research, and more research. Medina says Certis Biologicals has done more than 8,000 field trials to learn about biologicals and how they function, including for Convergence.
“We do the research and look at the data to understand how our products perform,” she states. “Then we pass that information on to our customers so they can understand.”
Adds Judd: “We tested Convergence over several years across multiple states and on a variety of crops so we could generate as much data as possible.”
Judd asserts that researching and developing biologicals has become more refined over the past few years with serious improvements in performance, stability and handling. “When biologicals first came on the scene, we didn’t have many of the capabilities we have today, from DNA sequencing to genomics, to understand what makes them work,” he says.
But Judd stresses that the best biological strains coming out of the lab won’t amount to anything unless they are fermented and formulated correctly for stability, compatibility, and performance. “Certis Biologicals won’t introduce a biological unless we trust it,” he adds. “We have high standards, and growers have high standards.”
While biologicals aren’t new to the row crop segment, they aren’t as widely used in row crops as they are in specialty crops. But Medina says biologicals are poised to grow in the sector, and believes Convergence will help boost that growth.
“Convergence fits easily into existing practices, meaning it has a wide range of adaptability to be applied with synthetic herbicides and fungicides in one application,” she adds.
Judd emphasizes that Certis Biologicals isn’t developing biologicals to replace synthetics. He believes more combination products, featuring synthetic and biological ingredients working together, are in agriculture’s future. “We envision biologicals working together with synthetics, helping growers make every acre and every plant perform,” he says.
An Economical Product
Judd realizes it’s not inexpensive to grow corn, soy, and other row crops, but he says Convergence offers row crop growers an excellent return on investment when added to a grower’s conventional program.
“Convergence will be very economical to the growers, with anticipated pricing in the single-digit range per acre,” he states, noting that some biologicals cost even double or more. “We are realistic and grower-focused. We wanted to bring convenience and benefits to the grower in a product that is also economical.”
By formulating and manufacturing Convergence in-house, Judd says Certis Biologicals can maintain costs. “We can produce it more cost effectively, and we want to pass that benefit on to the grower,” he adds, noting that Convergence is also easy to store and has a two-year shelf life.
Judd calls growers “the best stewards of the environment” and notes that soil health is important to them. He says biologicals like Convergence are sustainable solutions that can improve soil health while maintaining performance and enhancing yield. “Convergence gives retailers and growers another tool in their toolbox to help them grow the best crops possible,” he adds.
Judd describes Convergence as the “Swiss army knife” of biological products because it performs so many different functions. “Convergence certainly checks many boxes and can be incorporated seamlessly into a grower’s program,” he adds.
Certis Biologicals’ products are already used on several million acres of corn in the U.S. Convergence, which is now available for the next planting season, will soon be adding to that number.