Under new U.S. EPA registered claims, FBSciences' biopesticide technology delivers both growth enhancement and broad crop protection in a single active ingredient

FBSciences' biopesticide material FBS Defense 500 has received U.S. EPA approval of fungicide and insecticide uses in addition to the previously approved plant growth regulator (PGR) and nematicide claims. This range of claims in a single active ingredient (AI) is unprecedented and unique in the marketplace. The PGR performance, which enhances the growth and productivity of the plant, is not found in conjunction with a broad range of crop protection performance including nematicide, fungicidal, and insecticidal uses in one AI. The product development opportunities presented by the broad scope of the approved label are limitless, bringing together enhanced crop health and productivity, robust crop protection, and sustainability with a single material.

Biological resistance has become a significant issue in the last decade. The most widely used strategy to combat the issue has been to rotate the use of specific AIs within the integrated pest management program in order to delay resistance to specific AIs. The ability to utilize a single AI to control nematodes, insects, and fungal diseases is a game changer for resistance management and supports sustainable agriculture by minimizing the use of multiple synthetic AIs during the growing season.

FBSciences, a global leader in agricultural biologicals, is committed to providing powerful technologies and products that deliver strong crop protection, healthier, more productive crops and soil, and climate health benefits. Their FBS Defense 500 PGR biopesticide forms the foundation of their FBS Defense™ crop productivity and protection line of products. The FBS Defense line provides climate-smart tools for growers in the face of increasingly challenging biotic stresses, regulatory pressures for softer chemistries, and consumer demand for more sustainable solutions. As the severity of biotic stresses and resistance to incumbent products worsens worldwide, growers need tools that not only protect the crop but also improve plant, soil, and climate health. FBS Defense 500 is a broad-spectrum biopesticide that stimulates root and shoot growth, improves germination and seedling development, increases chlorophyll production, improves the plant's ability to withstand and recover from stress, increases yield, and controls nematodes, insects including mites, thrips, potato psyllid, and inchworm, and the fungal diseases Rhizoctonia, Pythium, purple blotch, frogeye leaf spot, target spot, and anthracnose. FBS Defense 500 provides these powerful benefits when used alone or when mixed with nutrients and other pesticide products on field crops, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and vine crops.

The efficacy of FBS Defense 500 as a PGR, nematicide, insecticide, and fungicide has been proven in extensive field trials and independent studies. FBS Defense 500 has been shown to perform comparably to industry standard pesticides without the synthetic chemistries, while at the same time delivering tremendous plant health and growth enhancement benefits. As a soil or seed applied nematicide, FBS Defense 500 has been shown to be effective on various nematode populations including root-knot, cyst, lesion, spiral, and reniform nematodes, controlling populations both in the soil and in the roots for more than one generation. As a PGR biopesticide, FBS Defense 500 when applied to plants acts as an elicitor to activate systemic acquired resistance, enabling the plant to successfully resist the pathogen. FBSciences' most recent trial, testing the efficacy of FBS Defense 500 as an insecticide on corn in Wisconsin, showed that FBS Defense 500 performed statistically as well as the industry standard, decreasing wireworm damage by 72% while increasing stand count by 26% and yield by 22% over the untreated check. The unique combination of growth enhancement, improved plant health, and reduced wireworm impedance to germination and emergence provided by FBS Defense 500 resulted in an improved stand count and is key to a successful, productive season.

"As a leader in climate-smart agricultural biologicals, FBSciences is committed to delivering robust crop protection while improving plant and soil health," said Courtenay Wolfe, Chair and CEO of FBSciences. "The unique benefits of our PGR biopesticide provide unlimited product development opportunities. Imagine the possibilities when we can deliver a nematicide that improves germination, emergence, and rooting, and an insecticide that improves crop tolerance to heat stress, in a single jug, with a single active ingredient. The uniqueness of these broad claims in a single PGR biopesticide is game changing."

FBSciences will leverage the opportunities provided by these broadened claims to expand their FBS Defense crop productivity and protection line of products, which currently includes their broad-spectrum EPA registered fungicide Carbon Defense^® and their EPA registered nematicide NemBlast™. Visit FBSciences.com to learn more about their crop productivity and protection, crop nutrition, and soil health product lines.