BioAttract: Sprayable Kairomone Baits from Bioglobal for Controlling Heliothis, Armyworms and Borers

Controlling lepidopteran pests is a major challenge in crop management for growers in many countries, not to mention the Helicoverpa armigera and Fall armyworm, which have wreaked havoc in recent years. 

Many chemical products are becoming less effective against difficult-control lepidopteran pests. As a result, growers are increasingly demanding more efficient and environmentally-friendly products. 

In a recent conversation with Su Min, CEO of Bioglobal Limited (Australia), we learned that their kairomones series products, BioAttract, are - good fit for the growers’ needs. Su called BioAttract "a game changer in controlling Heliothis, Aryworms, Borers and other economically important pests”.

Could you please give us a brief introduction of Bioglobal? What are Bioglobal’s main businesses? 

Bioglobal originated from Brisbane, Australia and established operational facilities in Shenzhen, China. It is a pioneer and leader in researching and developing sex pheromones and kairomone based products and their applications. Bioglobal successfully launched mating disruption products 30 years ago and has been engaged in R&D and commercialization of kairomone based products for more than 20 years.

Bioglobal is creating, manufacturing and selling sex pheromone lures, mating disruption dispensers for controlling oriental fruit moth, codling moth and European grapevine moth, various kinds of kairomone baits and provision of related technical services. 

Bioglobal’s mission is to provide sustainable and innovative pests management solutions to protect our community, environment, food and wildlife.

You mentioned kairomone. So, what is kairomone? 

Kairomones are semiochemicals that evoke a behavioral (releaser effect) or physiological response (primer effect) in the receiver of the signal that is adaptively favorable to the receiver but not the emitter.

The most well known group of semiochemicals that act as kairomones are probably those involved in the food’s location. So, very often, kairomones are also known as food attractants.

Food attractant technology is a revolutionary integrated pest management tool to manage Helicoverpa spp, (Heliothis) and other lepidopteran pests in many crops. 

Could you please describe the mode of action for applying kairomones in crop protection?

Many moths, including important pest species, migrate large distances and have high energy requirements. This energy is obtained from the nectar of flowering plants.  

In the past 30 years, laboratory observations and field tests conducted by entomologists, ecologic chemists and material scientist have demonstrated that a particular moth or moths’ species in host crops is highly attracted to a tailored blend of kairomones. These findings lay the foundations for developing kairomone-based products for pest management.

BioAttract-branded products attract both males and females. It relies on a different blend of kairomones identified by Bioglobal. The kairomones are held in a patented controlled-release matrix to prolong the active field life of the product, field life of 7 to 10 days covering the standard life cycle of moths. 

Moths attracted by the mixture of kairomones feed on the mix like a bait and then are neutralized by a suitable insecticide mixed with the mixture prior to application to the host crop. Female moths can lay over 500 to 1,500 eggs during their fertile period. By killing moths before they lay their eggs, the number of eggs and larvae in the crop will be greatly reduced and hence able to achieve an increased control level.

This sounded interesting. What kairomone products does Bioglobal have or are in the pipeline?

BioAttract is a thick liquid containing a blend of tailored kairomones in a controlled release substrate and a mixture of sugars as feeding stimulants. BioAttract does not contain and is not sold with any toxicant or pesticide.

BioAttract is not just one product based on the blending of substantially different kairomones and different target pest bias. Bioglobal will have a series of different BioAttract products, such as BioAttract-Heli (Heliothis), BioAttract-RLF (Rice Leaffolder), BioAttract-RSB (Rice Stem Borer), BioAttract-FAW (Fall Armyworm), BioAttract-FF (Fruit Flies), BioAttract-TLM (Tomato Leafminer) and so forth.

Could you give us more details about BioAttract-branded products? What are the target crops and pests?

BioAttract is a sprayable attractant and feeding stimulant bait product that can be used by growers of rice, cotton, grain legume, wheat, maize, soybean, tobacco and other cereal crops to manage noctuid moth infestations including adult Heliothis (Helicoverpa armigera and Helicoverpa punctigera), Armyworms (Mythimna convecta, Persectania ewingii, Spodoptera exempta), Native budworm (Helicoverpa punctigera), Cutworms (Agrotis spp.), Cnaphalocrocis medinalis and other adult moth pests.

How do you classify BioAttract-branded products in the pest management field?

BioAttract-branded products are considered adjuvants that greatly enhance the efficacy of selected pesticides and facilitate more convenient and faster application of the pesticides.

Why should BioAttract-branded products be used with selected pesticides?

As stated above, BioAttract products do not contain any killing elements, and they only play the role of attracting adult moths. The selected pesticide performs the killing part. This pesticide is mixed with BioAttract products before being applied to host crops. Here I like to emphasize that although a pesticide is required in applying BioAttract products, the dosage required is only 1-2% of the amount used in traditional pest management practice, representing a huge reduction of pesticides to be used.  

How can BioAttract-branded products be used to mitigate pesticide resistance?

BioAttract is an effective solution for mitigating resistance. Moths are generally more vulnerable to chemical pesticides when ingested and more likely to die. This reduces the occurrence of intergenerational transmission of resistance genes. Targeting both female and male moths can reduce eggs and larvae populations. That means fewer chemical pesticides are required to achieve control which further minimizes the dosage of chemical pesticides and further reduces the chance of growing resistance.

Will applying BioAttract-branded products also make insects resistant?

The answer is “NO”. The odors of the active ingredients in BioAttract are already present in nature. Insects have evolved using these natural chemical compounds to sustain their life cycle. Feeding, mating and oviposition are all influenced by semiochemical cues. Without these semiochemical compounds, insects would not sustain life and extinction events would occur. Hence, resistance to BioAttract is not possible.

In nature, an adult insect uses its olfactory organ and/or other sensory organs to smell and receive the odors released in the environment to find the nectar source needed to replenish energy or the spawning locations for offspring. This is the natural behavioral life cycle of an adult moth. The active ingredients in BioAttract emulated these natural chemical releases to attract them to the baited feeding stimulant. Therefore, any resistance is highly doubtful.

What is the uniqueness in spraying BioAttract-branded products?

When farmers use BioAttract, complete spraying is not required. That means one can apply chemical pesticides to larger crop areas quicker. It only involves strip-spraying across the field in broadwise intervals of 50 or 100 meters between strips or strip-spraying around the field. 

Why do you say BioAttract-branded products can significantly facilitate the spraying of pesticides?

BioAttract is not required to penetrate plant stems and leaves to be effective, resulting in a more convenient application of chemical pesticides on crops. This is especially helpful in spraying on tall and densely planted field crops (corn, wheat, sorghum, soybean, cotton, sugar cane, etc.).

What are the main economic benefits BioAttract can bring to the farmers?

Because of the uniqueness mentioned above in spraying BioAttract products, the economic benefits for farmers become obvious. This includes reduced labor time for application deployment; requirement for less spraying machines and reduced equipment maintenance costs; reduction in energy costs for application and water consumption; ideal for large broad acre producers, and ideal for emergency use in which quick deployment is necessary.

In addition to the above said economic benefits, what are the incidental benefits BioAttract-branded products can offer to the society?

Using BioAttract is less harmful to beneficial insects or animals and could help reduce chemical dosage and residues. It may also ensure less pollution in soils and water, less phytotoxicity, less exposure for farmers to hazardous materials, cleaner farming practices and improved yields.

Why do you say using this product will be under relatively lenient regulatory requirements?

The fundamental reason is that the active ingredients of BioAttract are food additives or plant volatile compounds (PVC) that are generally regarded as safe.

Could you share some examples of how BioAttract has been applied to various crops?

From 2012 to 2021, BioAttract has been widely used to manage the major pests on maize, cotton, soybeans and rice, in the provinces of Liaoning, Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Xinjiang, Hunan, Hubei, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui, China. The important pests managed include Helicoverpa armigera, Pyrausta nubilalis, Athetis lepigone, Dichocrocis punctiferalis, Mythimna separata, Agrotis ipsilon, Leguminivora glycinivorella, Lamprosema indicate (Fabricius), Spodoptera exigua (Hübner), Spodoptera litura, Clanis bilineata tsingtauica, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, Chilo auricilius Dudgeon and Sesamia inferens. The average control efficacy ranges from 67 to 80%.

What are the invention patents that Bioglobal has with regard to BioAttract-branded products?

BioAttract-branded products are proprietary products of Bioglobal protected by a series of invention patents and trademarks registered in Australia, China, Mexico, South Africa and New Zealand.

What do you mean by saying ‘BioAttract, a game changer in controlling Heliothis, Aryworms, Borers and other economically important pests’?

This can be explained and understood in the following four aspects. (i) Pesticides typically target eggs and larvae. BioAttract products target adult moths, which can be used to implement pest preventive measures earlier, say, controlling overwintering generation moths when their populations are light. This pre-emptive strategy is vital for controlling highly reproductive insects, such as Heliothis. For example, a female Heliothis moth can lay over 2000 eggs. (ii) As stated above, only strip-spraying is required, and there are no requirements of penetrating leaves and stems when pesticides are used with BioAttract. This will significantly increase the deployment efficiency in pest management. (iii) Using BioAttract products could reduce vast amounts of traditional pesticides that are required for achieving control purposes. And (iv) Applying BioAttract products could effectively mitigate pesticide resistance problems.

What are your plans for marketing BioAttract in more countries?

We expect to market and sell our BioAttract products in the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia and other countries.

What are the company's strengths in production and R&D for supporting the growth of BioAttract?

In my view, Bioglobal’s strengths are mainly reflected in two aspects: first, rich and superior experience accumulated in more than 20 years; second, our capabilities of adaptively and continuously creating new BioAttract to meet the market needs.

Being the CEO of Bioglobal, what are your expectations for the company's future development and growth?

BioAttract-branded products have a very bright future, besides the enormous economic benefits to farmers, increasing environment protection pressure, growing food safety concerns, harsher regulatory requirements on chemical pesticides, rapidly rising costs for using chemical pesticides and carbon neutralization (energy saving) momentum are the vital driving forces to popularize the applications of BioAttract-branded products.

Bioglobal is an innovation-driven company, and we will focus on creating more kairomone-based products and more mating disruption dispensers. Meanwhile, we look forward to establishing collaborations with partners who share our values and social responsibilities. That is to provide affordable, environment-friendly, energy-saving and sustainable pest management solutions to farmers.

This article was initially published in AgroPages' 'Annual Review 2021' magazine.