First Brazilian multisite biofungicide with 2 bacteria – Interview with Dr. Eduardo Bernardo, Agrivalle R&D director

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

Agrivalle, a pioneer in the bio-inputs segment in Brazil, recently launched Twixx-A, the first multi-site biofungicide with two bacteria and a broad spectrum of control for foliar diseases in soybean, corn, bean and cotton crops. AgroPages exclusively interviewed Dr. Eduardo Bernardo, Research and Development director at Agrivalle about this new solution.

What is Twixx-A, what are its differentials and why is it unique in the Brazilian market?

Twixx-A has a unique place on the market because it is the first multi-site biofungicide associated with two bacteria. And this composition allows the biological to have a broad control of foliar diseases in soybean, corn, bean and cotton crops, and leave the plants better prepared to fight pathogens and diseases.

How was the development of this solution and the registration process?

The market, more and more, needs new sustainable solutions that help to control it in a broad manner. In addition, producers lack the acquisition of products that have a multi-site effect, that is, with more than one mode of action. That is why having a biofungicide with these characteristics is so important and there has been a lot of research on this over the last five years.

How is the product's mechanism of action?

Twixx-A has in its formulation beneficial microorganisms that act to take the place of foliar pathogens, by competing for space and nutrients on the surface of the leaves, producing metabolites with a fungicidal effect and stimulating the plant in the production of compounds of defenses. It also allows the plant to express its maximum productive potential, stimulating its plant growth, which is provided by the phytonic effect, and this allows for even more productivity gains.

In practice, it uses the modes of action of the new multisite where there is competition and antibiosis, which can be for nutrients or space. In other words, the bacillus can use carbon and nitrogen sources more intelligently than the phytopathogens, obtaining advantages, and using the quality of the biofilm as a benefit, which also helps in the matter of competition for space. In this way, it starts to occupy the places where diseases could settle. Antibiosis, on the other hand, makes the bacillus act to produce substances that inhibit the proliferation and multiplication of diseases.

What diseases are controlled with this biofungicide? What is the importance of Twixx-A in the management of protective multi-site fungicides?

It helps in the management of resistance to diseases such as anthracnose (Colletotrichum truncatum), white spot (Pantoea ananatis) and target spot (Corynespora cassiicola). The importance of products with multisite action, allows the formulations that already exist and which are already used in the market, to be preserved in the long term. At the same time, it helps control DFCs and others more assertively. After all, pathogens and diseases can be reached in more than one way, which promotes control and maintains the action through the residual effect that remains in the plant.