Beauveria bassiana: A Disruptive Bio-Insecticide, But Needs Time to Take Off

In the last two years, when we collated the biopesticide products registered in Brazil, we found that a considerable number of the approved products were Beauveria bassiana-based products from different companies. This made us interested in figuring out why the development and registration of this product is popular in Brazil. We shared some ideas about this product with André Cerignoni, Commercial Manager at Koppert do Brazil, and gained his valuable insights.

André Cerignoni
Commercial Manager at Koppert do Brazil

Please introduce the market scale of Beauveria bassiana-based products in Brazil. If possible, please also introduce the global market size of this bioinsecticide.

The bioinsecticide Beauveria bassiana is applied in large scale in Brazil. According to the research conducted by S&P Global, we are talking about 19.7% of the Brazilian biological market. Globally speaking it is not a big market yet as the product is not produced in large scale, it requires a cold chain logistics and it is still necessary to comprehend the farmer’s needs to position it properly. So, it is a disruptive product that did not took off outside Brazil. It has to be developed very close to the farmer to get the best results, as we did here in Brazil.

What is Beauveria bassiana and what is its mode of action of killing pests?

The Beauveria bassiana is an entomopathogenic fungus that is capable to colonize insects and kill them. Basically, its mode of action is per contact: the insect receives a spore of Beauveria bassiana in its tegument and the process of colonization and killing is initiated. We could go deeper on the explanation but it would require pages and pages describing the biological interactions that occurs at the same time.

Brazil has very rich resources of Beauveria bassiana species. What species can be selected for further product development?

As far as we know, there is a low number of strains being used in the Brazilian market. Our R&D department keep searching for new strains. The goal is to find a more virulent strain that could be multiplied on large scale to attend the market. But no other options were found up to now.

In Brazil, which crops are these products mainly applied to and which crop problems can it solve?

The main pests are white fly such as Bemisia tabaci, coffee berry borer such as Hypothenemus hampei, and Gonipterus scutellatus and Gonipterus platensis. The white fly can be easily found in row crops: a) in the cotton crop the farmer has to control the pest every year; b) in the soybean crop the pest appears in cycles, depending on the climate, what determines the level of infestation; c) fruits and vegetables suffer much more infestations during the productive cycle. The tomato crop for example tend to suffer more white fly attacks and demands more attention; d) in coffee crops, we knew that some chemicals that control coffee berry borer where prohibited so the Beauveria bassiana became an important tool to control it and it has been showing good results year after year; e) in planted forests, the product is also used to control Gonipterus.

The flexibility of the formulation of our product gives opportunity to different modes of applications, facilitating the farmer's life.

Why are so many Brazilian companies developing and registering Beauveria bassiana products? What market potential do you think this type of product has?

Law of offer and demand. The biological control market is increasing fast and farmers demand more products, what open the way to increase the number of companies in the market or make investments to occupy spaces. This scenario defines a big market potential.

What are the current difficulties when developing this product?

In terms of market, finding the right positioning, understanding the pain of the farmer, and equalizing the affordable price for its use. In terms of industry, breed the fungus on large scale, give to the market a stabilized formulation that offers the maximum potential of the product with certain rusticity to combine different products when necessary (tank mix), and keep the strain renewed, to continue all the characteristics of the original fungus. In terms of agronomics, the correct using all the technology developed in the previous steps applying and controlling the desired target. Another important point is the logistics, these products demand a cold chain operation to avoid any damage to the active ingredient.

What are the particularities of using adjuvants and choosing formulations when you develop this product?

The main particularities are compatibility. It is necessary to choose a product that does not kill the active ingredient, an adjuvant that improves the technology of application in terms of drop size, spreadability, and other aspects, and helps to dissolve insect tegument in order to increase the action of the product.

Please tell us about your company. What Beauveria bassiana products do you have? What are the advantages of your products compared with other companies’ products?

Koppert is a biological control company based in Holland. In Brazil, we have been for eleven years: developing and offering solutions to farmers focused in entomopathogenic fungi and macro products such as Trichogramma and predatory mites. Our Beauveria bassiana is called Boveril Evo, the exclusive strain is the PL63 and our formulation has the exact concentration to keep all characteristics necessary to get the maximum efficiency of the fungus against the pests in the market.

This article was initially published in AgroPages' '2022 Latin America Focus' magazine.