AgBiTech launches Disseminate bioinsecticide against caterpillar that proliferates in Brazil

AgBiTech Brasil exclusively revealed to AgroPages the launch of the baculovirus-based bioinsecticide Disseminate (Autographa californica Multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus, AcMNPV).

The target of the product is the caterpillar Rachiplusia nu, an 'emerging' species observed more frequently, initially in the three southern states of Brazil and later responsible for increasing infestations in Bahia, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás.

″This caterpillar worries a lot. It is considered difficult to control in the management anchored in chemical insecticides. At the same time, current biotechnologies do not fully control it,″ summarized Gustavo Shiomi, Agronomist and Portfolio Manager at AgBiTech Brasil.

Gustavo Shiomi, Agronomist and Portfolio Manager at AgBiTech Brasil

According to him, the company has alerted producers, partners, and customers, from a technical point of view, about ″the size of the problem that Rachiplusia tends to represent in the field from now on.″

″Not to mention the economic panorama, the prospect of a drop in the price of agricultural commodities and the dollar, there is a cloudy scenario on the horizon, a storm waiting for the soybean farmer in terms of caterpillars,″ the AgBiTech Brasil Portfolio Manager said.

″In addition to Helicoverpa, Spodoptera, and other species, Rachiplusia nu is ‘climbing’. It advances harvest after harvest and increases the complexity of the production system for the farmer, in the face of high investments in insecticides and biotechnologies,″ Shiomi added.

According to him, before reaching the market, the new bioinsecticide underwent several tests and research at the field level ″with promising results″.

According to Shiomi, Disseminate had its performance on Rachiplusia nu evaluated in isolation and then associated with a chemical insecticide, and in both cases, the result was favorable.

″When applied alone, the bioinsecticide performed 40% better than the standard chemical at a cost that was 32% lower. Combined with the chemical, it raised its median efficiency to 80%. Disseminate is today the ideal tool for managing Rachiplusia nu, with a highly competitive cost and robust performance,″ he added.

According to the agronomist, bioinsecticide development involved a group made up of some of the most outstanding entomologists in Brazil, which validated the technology and today recommends it to soy producers.

″The studies around the baculovirus anticipated a problem for soybean farmers from this season onwards and resulted in the delivery of a technically effective and very competitive solution from a cost point of view,″ he said in conclusion.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)