Brazil: biological product Stratiomip reduces losses from insects by 50% in mushroom

According to the biotech company Promip, Stratiomip achieved to reduce by up to 50% the losses from harmful insects in edible mushroom crops in Brazil. The technology – a compound of predatory mites of the Stratiolaelaps scimitus specie – it is the first in the country with registration at Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) for this crop.

"As in Brazil, the use of agrochemicals to control these plagues is banned by the Ministry of Agriculture, the management is restricted to the cleaning of facilities and correct disposal of harvest leftovers and depleted compound. Stratiomip arrives as an ally of farmers against Fungus gnats. The results in the country have shown to be very promising, and this mite already marketed in several countries in Europe and North America,” affirms Dr. Grazielle Furtado Moreira, Development Coordinator of Macrobiological Products of Promip.

The biological solution is effective to control the Fungus gnats fly, major plague on mushrooms. Its larvae cause direct damages on plants, leading to total production loss. The compound that applied directly on site reduces the proliferation of these insects in the crops, because these mites predate exactly the eggs and the larvae.

According to estimates of the Brazilian Association of Mushroom Producers, there are over 300 producers of mushroom in the country, which together grow over 12k tons and employ 3k people. This production is concentrated in Mogi das Cruzes, state of São Paulo, and Curitiba, state of Paraná. Other states with significant productions are Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Pernambuco, Brasília and Rio Grande do Sul.