A broad-spectrum hybrid fungicide for disease control
Dr Moshe Reuveni , chief scientist at STK Bio-Ag Technologies , introduces Regev
The global search for plant protection products that are both environmentally safe and effective is driven by the need to supply food to the evergrowing world population . The call for chemical load reduction is an important aspect of sustainable agriculture . Recently , documented issues of widespread environmental contamination , toxicity to nontarget organisms and negative effects on human health from synthetic agrochemicals have led to a resurgence of interest in ‘ natural ’ means of pest and pathogen control , including new sources of biopesticides and botanical pesticides . The latest products are generally used in crop protection and contain secondary metabolites , which can be - but are not always - involved in plant defence mechanisms . Among the latest solutions , the essential oils are considered to be attractive for plant protection . Tea tree oil ( TTO ) is a valuable essential oil extracted by steam distillation of the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia , which belonging to the Myrtaceae family . It contains many terpenes and sesquiterpenes , plus their respective alcohols . The oil has been shown to be an effective antiseptic , antifungal and bactericide . In the past decade it was found to be effective against a broad range of plant-pathogenic fungi in numerous crops , including vegetables , herbs , coffee , rice , grapes , bananas and other fruit .
Figure 1 ( above & opposite ) - Efficacy of Regev applied alone & systemic fungicides each plus mancozeb in controlling black Sigatoka in banana plantation
New , effective alternatives that can provide different and multiple modes of action with a lower risk for fungicide resistance , and which place a smaller chemical load on the environment concomitantly with consistent disease control , are required to increase options for the control of plant diseases . The newly developed fungicide Regev * EC , a hybrid formulation containing 200 g / L of the systemic triazole fungicide difenoconazole plus 400 g / L of TTO , is a unique prepacked formulation which provides various mechanisms of action against broad-spectrum of plant pathogens and improved efficacy . The suggested hybrid solution can be the bridge between conventional
agrochemical farming and sustainable farming because it is a pre-mix . For this reason , it is easy-to-use , in the exact same way as the grower ’ s current chemical pesticide . To the best of our knowledge , this is the first bioand chemical-based hybrid product in the industry .
Modes of action
The documented fungicidal and antimicrobial activities of TTO against fungal pathogens are derived from its ability to inhibit respiration and disrupt the permeability barrier presented by the membrane structures of living organisms . Our recent studies have shown that TTO has a moderate effect against spore
28 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981