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Marrone Bio Innovations hosts academic, grower nematicide training
Feb. 23, 2017
Pro-Farm Group - Formerly Marrone Bio Innovations
United StatesFollow
United States
Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (MBI), recently hosted a training featuring eight Florida and Georgia experts reviewing the most current data on nematode management. Enrolled in this CEU approved training in Tampa, Fla., were 15 growers and representatives from major agricultural distributors from Florida and Georgia, as well as 16 employees from MBI.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, nematodes are one of the greatest threats to crops in the U.S. and the world. These microscopic worms can attack any part of a plant, but most commonly attack the root systems of plants. Because roots are affected, growers might not recognize damage until the plant is fully developed, which results in a significant decrease in yield and quality.
"The purpose of this training, which was offered as a CEU course for agronomists and consultants, was to give growers the most up to date information on identifying and managing nematodes," said Bielinski Santos, PhD, MBI's southeast product development manager. "Crop damage from nematodes is often mistaken for other plant diseases. At the same time, we provided education about the science and use of biopesticides and how to integrate them into integrated pest management programs."
"Our training, was aimed at helping growers understand how to tell if nematodes are at the 'root' of the problem in their fields. Nematodes remain fairly under-identified because they can only be identified by studying under a microscope multiple soil samples from a single field," said Santos.
One of the featured nematologists was Joe Noling, PhD and professor of nematology from the University of Florida, who specializes in nematodes in Florida's numerous fruit and vegetable crops. "The first thing to understand about nematodes is that they are aquatic creatures, so they seek water in soil. Because of this, understanding how farmers apply and water in the application of any product is a key to successful nematode management. You have to get the product where the nematode lives, so how much water to apply, how fast, timing, and the irrigation method are all things that need to be considered."
Kathy Lawrence, PhD and a professor in Auburn University's Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology presented Nematodes 101, a very instructive presentation about the biology and taxonomy of plant parasitic nematodes, said, "Given the losses to nematodes every year in crop production and the loss of older chemical products, the market needs innovative new products."
Gary Lawrence, PhD and professor of nematology at Mississippi State University also presented data. His work reviewed and presented information on the importance of new nematicides for southeastern annual crops, such as sweet potato and vegetables.
Training covered data from field trials on various products, information on identification of types of nematodes, and management strategies including weed management. Of key interest to the audience, were studies that reviewed how products and nematodes moved in various soil types.
Typically, nematicides are injected into the soil as a fumigant, watered in through irrigation systems, or shanked-in and watered into the soil. Understanding how much water to apply to get the nematicide into the root zone of the plant is critical. Movement of water and nematodes varies by soil type. MBI is investing heavily in the science to better understand this critical relationship between water and product movement.
In 2016, Marrone launched a new bionematicide, Majestene, a broad spectrum, high performance natural bionematicide that kills nematodes and increases yields in a wide range of agricultural crops. Majestene, based on a novel bacterium that produces nematicidal compounds, was developed from MBI's in-house discovery screening process and provides growers with a new mode of action for safely controlling nematodes by reducing or stopping eggs from hatching, preventing root galling and reducing nematode population density. Nematodes cause approximately $80 billion annually in damages to crops globally. Majestene was the 2016 Agro Biopesticide of the year.
A component of this integrated training program was to review third-party trials conducted by researchers to understand how best to use the product in the field and to review efficacy. Majestene was found to be comparable or slightly better than some of the most commonly used products in the field.
Source: Marrone Bio Innovations
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