Biological treatment for soy combined with bio fungicide launched in Argentina

By Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages

Rizobacter presented a totally biological product for the treatment of soybeans in Argentina, incorporating a bio fungicide that controls pathogenic fungi that affect crop emergence.

Rizoderma is a biofungicidal seed cure that the company developed with the Argentine INTA (National Agricultural Technology Institute), which will accompany the inoculant line in this soy campaign, said Matías Gorski, Rizobacter's Global Biological Manager.

"It is a proposal for pre-sowing that creates the conditions for the development of soybeans in a natural environment of nutrition and protection, with which it is possible to sustainably increase yields and improve the productive conditions of the soil," he said.

The integration of the inoculants with the bio fungicide is presented as one of the most innovative treatments of this soybean campaign. It is supported by more than seven years of fieldwork and multiple networks of trials, which prove equal performance and even higher than the pairs where a product of chemical formulation is present.

The bacteria’s high compatibility in the inoculant with the fungus strain that is part of the seed treatment formulation is shown as an added value for this treatment. Rizoderma is a biological seed cure, based on the Trichoderma Harzianum fungus that controls seed and soil fungi pathogens.

An advantage of its biological formulation is that it combines a triple mode of action that inhibits the possibility of generating resistance in pathogens by naturally blocking reproduction and the development of the most important diseases that affect the crop (Cercospora kikuchii, Phomopsis, Fusarium spp.)

This advantage becomes strategic for producers and consultants since it allows them to reach the first application of foliar fungicides with a lower level of diseases and, therefore, increases the efficiency of the application.

According to the company, Rizoderma has demonstrated high performance in the field, and the network of trials carried out by Rizobacter. Worldwide, 23% of soybeans are treated with one of the inoculants developed by Rizobacter.

“We have achieved a very positive work synergy with producers from 48 countries. This allows us to respond to their demands and develop inoculation technologies that have been strategic for the definition of yields,” he remarked.

The inoculant application per hectare has a value of US$4 while urea, the nitrogen fertilizer produced industrially, costs around $150 to $200 per hectare. "This shows a return on investment that exceeds 50%, added to the fact that it is possible to strengthen the nutritional condition of the crop with yields greater than 5% on average," said Fermín Mazzini, Head of Rizobacter Inoculants in Argentina.

To meet these productive needs, the company developed an inoculant resistant to droughts and high temperatures, which guarantee the seed treatments’ effectiveness under adverse conditions, and improves yields even in areas with limitations.

The inoculation technology called bioinduction is positioned as the most innovative of the company since it can generate molecular signals to activate metabolic processes in bacteria and plants. This behavior allows obtaining earlier and more efficient nodulation, which maximizes the capacity to fix nitrogen and promotes the uptake of nutrients for greater growth of legumes.

“We put into action all our innovative capacity to offer growers increasingly sustainable treatments. The technologies that come to the field today have to be able to respond to the expectation of yield and at the same time preserve the health and balance of the agroecosystem,” Matías Gorski said in conclusion.