Canada approves Bio-ferm’s biopesticide Blossom Protect

The Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has proposed to approve full registration for the sale and use of a bactericide product Blossom Protect from Bio-ferm (an Austria company), containing the technical grade active ingredients Aureobasidium pullulans strain DSM 14940 and strain DSM 14941, to control fire blight in pome fruits and suppression of fire blight in woody Rosaceae ornamentals.

Aureobasidium pullulans strains DSM 14940 and DSM 14941 are the active ingredients in the end-use product (EP), Blossom Protect. These strains of fungi are used as microbial pest control agents (MPCA) against fire blight caused by Erwinia amylovora in pome fruits and woody Rosaceae ornamentals. Both strains DSM 14940 and DSM 14941 of A. pullulans were originally isolated from apple leaves of an untreated apple plantation in Germany.

The two A. pullulans strains are living yeasts that compete against the fire blight pathogen for space and nutrients under the low pH of the spray solution provided by the citric acid buffer. The fire blight pathogen is not adapted to grow under a low pH environment.

Bio-ferm launched Blossom Protect in Italy and Belgium in June 2011 and also got approval from US EPA early this year.