AgroPages-BioNovelus new biofungicide succeeding in Costa Rica, Guatemala-Agricultural news

BioNovelus, Inc. says test results of its biofungicide CR-10, in the fight against coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix or “roya” in Spanish) in Costa Rica and Guatemala have been very successful.

“BioNovelus is fighting the ongoing battle against coffee rust with our eco-friendly, 100% biodegradable CR-10, in Guatemala and Costa Rica. By putting our product directly into the hands of coffee growers for testing, and agronomic engineers to fight this fungus, our product brought the rust from 75% infection rate down to 40% in just one application in 21 days in a farm in the region of Antigua, in Guatemala,” the company said.

In other battlefields against coffee rust, CR-10 has gone down from 71% to 20% in one application over a period of 11 weeks, and from 73% to 34.5% in one application over a period of 27 days, in two farms in the region of Coto Brus, in Costa Rica. These are the newest results received from test partners. The test results are also showing that if you use 2-3 applications, the affectation can be under control (which is under 10%).

CR-10 is also currently undergoing more studies by agronomic engineers and both the Guatemalan and Costa Rican national coffee associations, Anacafé and ICafé. Based on preliminary tests, management believes that these studies will allow growers to go from having diseased plants to healthy plants which yield more fruit and more income from their harvests.

Farmers suffering from coffee rust currently have the following choices:

*1. They can choose to prune the plants down to the root (realizing what farmers call a “poda total” in Spanish) or plant the new hybrid or GMO plants, yet they have a 3-4 years to wait for a mature plant in order to bear fruit.

*2. The can use chemicals on the plants which negatively affects both the yield and the life-force of the plant. This also affects the taste and, of course, damages the soil greatly.

*3. They can decide to stop growing coffee, and start growing more rewarding less demanding crops.

BioNovelus’ CR-10 gives a solution that is not only eco-friendly and non-toxic (when used at recommended dilution) but allows the farmers to save a majority of their infected plants within one growing cycle. In addition, the harvest can still yield a closer result to their original intended potential crop, since the plant’s life-force is restored. This provides the growers with a unique viable “green”, and sustainable solution.

BioNovelus is working diligently with the government officials to get the products registered, so that the growers in Central America will be able to purchase this fungicide for the new growing season.