Label expansion for MBI’s Regalia biofungicide

Marrone Bio Innovations (MBI) announced yesterday that EPA has approved a significant label expansion for Regalia, a biofungicide that boosts plants’ natural defenses to fight fungal and bacterial diseases. The label expansion includes new soil applications, instructions for yield improvement in corn and soybeans, along with additional specialty crops, and target pathogens.

The chemigation section was also expanded to include drip irrigation instructions for controlling soil-borne pathogens and improving plant growth and yield. Field trial data released in 2011 and 2012 on tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and strawberries show that Regalia improves root and plant growth when applied as a pre-plant dip, in-furrow spray, soil drench, or through drip irrigation to transplants.

MBI has experienced rapid adoption of Regalia in specialty crop markets where it is used for bacterial disease control in tomatoes, peppers, citrus, and walnuts, and mildew control in leafy greens, cucurbits, berries, and vines. Regalia contains a unique active ingredient from the extract of Reynoutria sachalinensis, or giant knotweed, which switches on plants’ natural defense mechanisms, causing them to produce and accumulate higher levels of natural proteins and other compounds that inhibit disease development.

Under the expanded label, Regalia is now approved for use on cotton, grass seed, oil seed crops, sugar beets, sugarcane, and tobacco. Improved plant growth recommendations, including yield enhancement, are included for selected crops. Field trial data, for example, show that Regalia effectively controls plant pathogens and improves yields when applied as a foliar application to soybean and corn. Additionally, many new plant pathogens are covered in the new label such as soil-borne diseases including Rhizoctonia, Pythium, Phytophthora, and Fusarium.