BASF's Serifel: New biological fungicide for vines, vegetables launched in Italy

For farmers, producing and marketing fruit and vegetables and being able to meet all market needs are increasingly becoming complex to achieve. While primary objectives, such as the quality, productivity and profitability of crops, along with increasingly demanding regulatory, social and market factors in terms of food safety and environmental sustainability, have imposed constraints that are not always easy to overcome.

To reconcile these needs and meet the demand for healthy, productive and sustainable crops, BASF developed  Serifel^®, a new biological fungicide that offers an optimal balance between protection and market needs.

Serifel^® is based on Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, a bacterium naturally present in the soil, using an exclusive strain, MBI 600, which was isolated for the first time in bean leaves. The bacterium, suitably formulated and applied on crops, can counteract the development of various pathogenic fungi responsible for rot on various crops, such as botrytis.

Serifel^®, applied preventively on crops, prevents the onset of fungal pathogens in three different ways:

•  Production of metabolites: Metabolites are produced by bacteria that grow on the surface of plants after application. The main metabolites of Serifel^®, iturine and surfactin, are lipopeptides that insert themselves into the cell membranes of pathogens, altering their structures and processes and causing their cells to collapse.


•  Competition for space: The bacteria contained in Serifel^® physically occupies spaces on plants, preventing other parasitic microorganisms from settling in the same spaces.
•  Competition for resources: Serifel^® also exhausts the supply of nutrients present on the surface of plants, making them unavailable for the spores of pathogens.

 
This complex mode of action prevents the onset of resistant strains of pathogens and makes Serifel^® an excellent tool for the deployment of solid anti-resistance strategies.

To allow bacteria to settle and multiply, occupying spaces and producing metabolites guarantee their effectiveness, so preventive applications are fundamentally important.

Serifel’s^® formulation contains pure spores of the active ingredient, which is a distinctive feature that has numerous advantages:
•  High quality formulation
•  High content consistency
•  High formulation stability
•  Reduction of dosage per hectare of formulation
•  Reduced foaming
•  Efficient cleaning of treated crops

The product’s low dosage per hectare (0.5 kg/ha) allows for greater ease of use, less bulk in warehouses and less product to be handled.

Serifel^® does not have a maximum residue limit, return times and safety interval, meaning that, if necessary, it can also be applied during the immediate pre-harvest phase of crops. It is precisely during this crucial phase of the season, when pathogen contrast tools are very limited, when the special characteristics of Serifel^® can be fully exploited, guaranteeing maximum operational flexibility.

Serifel^® can be used in biological or integrated protection programs that combine the use of traditional and organic products, and is authorized for use against Botrytis cinerea on wine, table vines, major vegetable crops and lettuces and salads. Serifel^® is an excellent solution for controlling Sclerotinia.

The original Italian version of this report is from BASF Italia.