AgroPages-Adjuvants Plus and AAFC deal on control Fusarium Head Blight-Agricultural news

Adjuvants Plus Inc. (API), Canadian-based agri-business, has reached a licensing agreement with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization (OIPC) for the patented technology to prevent Fusarium Head Blight in cereals with a fungal organism called Clonostachys rosea strain ACM941.

Clonostachys rosea strain ACM941 is a patented organism that protects plants against fungal pathogens. It is particularly effective in controlling Fusarium Head Blight in wheat and has potential for use in other crops. API will facilitate the introduction of this important new disease management tool.

“Fusarium Head Blight has cost Canada’s wheat growers $1.5 billion since the 1990’s and continues to threaten annual wheat revenues of almost $5.4 billion. We are pleased to play a role in helping growers prevent this devastating disease in wheat with support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,” said Dr. Bill Brown, President, Adjuvants Plus Inc.

Clonostachys rosea ACM941 is a fungal microbe isolated from the lower leaf of a field pea plant in Manitoba that infects and kills Fusarium and other disease pathogens. This natural mode of action can be used to control the devastating Fusarium Head Blight in cereals and may find applications in many field and horticultural crops, including those in the greenhouse industry.

API will determine how to develop the technology as a seed treatment or foliar spray. AAFC’s Pesticide Risk Reduction Program has worked closely with OIPC and will provide API with regulatory assistance in submitting their application to Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency to seek regulatory approval of the ACM941 patented organism.