Sustainable Biostimulant and Bioprotective Compound for Rust Control in Organic Farming System

• Grant number: 20/13565-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: February 01, 2022
• End date: January 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Geisa Lima Mesquita Zambrosi
• Grantee: Geisa Lima Mesquita Zambrosi
• Company: Geisa Lima Mesquita Zambrosi
• CNAE: Atividades de apoio à agricultura ; Fabricação de produtos químicos orgânicos não especificados anteriormente ; Pesquisa e desenvolvimento experimental em ciências físicas e naturais
• Associated researchers: Flávia Rodrigues Alves Patrício ; Oliveiro Guerreiro Filho
• Associated research grant(s): 23/04040-9 - Sustainable biostimulant and bioprotective compound for the control of fungal diseases in certified coffee production, AP.PIPE
• Associated scholarship(s): 21/14012-7 - Sustainable Biostimulant and Bioprotective Compound for Rust Control in Organic Farming System, BP.PIPE; 21/14114-4 - Sustainable Biostimulant and Bioprotective Compound for Rust Control in Organic Farming System, BP.TT

Abstract

The organic farming (OF) system has become an important component of the global food industry founded in more sustainable agricultural production, with worldwide growth rates of around 10% per year. However, this cultivation system has a limited number of products allowed to be used in crop protection. This includes the control of fungal diseases such as rust, a serious threat to agricultural crops worldwide. Currently, this disease is controlled with intensive use of synthetic fungicides in conventional agriculture, which intensifying cases of resistance to the main molecules used, and is highly toxic to the environment and the farmer, and in OF there are limited options for its control. Therefore, there is a growing demand for products with effective bioprotective molecules, with better acceptance by the demanding current market, which requires products with low environmental impact that can be used in the sustainable control of diseases in OF systems. In view of such a need, Defense Fertilizer aims to develop an innovative biostimulant and bioprotective compound using seaweed extract and manganese for foliar application in the control of plant fungal diseases. These two components have complementary modes of action that promote increased plant resistance to fungal diseases: direct action against the pathogen and activation of the host's natural defense mechanisms. Despite studies have shown the action of seaweed extracts to control various plant diseases, there are no sustainable algae-based products on the market for disease control. Accordingly, it is expected to develop a natural fungicide for agricultural production under OF that promotes: sustainable control of plant rust, improvements in crop yield, higher net income for growers, reduction in production costs with disease control, lower dependence on products and technologies from abroad companies; to diminish the risks to the environment impact and health of consumers and rural workers. The initial targeting of our product will be coffee grown in the OF system, which represents 10% of Brazilian exports, and the financial losses caused by rust in this crop reach $ 2 billion dollars annually. The technical efficiency of the proposed product will be validated in a coffee cultivar susceptible to the rust-causing fungus (Hemileia vastatrix). It will be evaluated its protective and curative capacity against the disease, with determination of the inhibitory concentration, and its ability to promote an increase in plant productivity. Thus, it is expected to offer an effective alternative to rust control, using a sustainable biostimulant and bioprotective compound. This product might be also important to reduce the costs and offer a combined strategy with conventional pesticide technologies for the management of this important coffee disease, contributing for the provision a high value harvested crop. The projected results at the end of phase 1 are the demonstration of the technical feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed fungicide formulation for the control of coffee rust, as well as the identification of the most appropriate dose to be applied to achieve such an aim. (AU)