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Innoterra India, a fruit producer and exporter through its business unit Desai AgriFoods, has signed a global partnership agreement with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) to develop a biopesticide against Fusarium wilt , popularly known as Panama disease.
The biopesticide, called FUSICONT, is a ground-breaking solution that claims effectiveness against the Tropical Race 4 (TR4) strain of the Panama disease. The solution developed by ICAR has proven effective against TR-4 in the early-stage trials, Innoterra said in a statement on Friday.
FUSICONT is based on a novel technology that directly targets the deadly fungal disease currently responsible for the destruction of millions of tonnes of banana crops worldwide. The partnership is first of its kind in India to battle the disease.
Innoterra’s partnership with ICAR for their technology will be followed by extensive field trials and testing effectiveness of the solution at the farm level globally.
Most destructive
The ‘Cavendish’ cultivar accounts for 99 per cent of all bananas shipped from India to multiple export destinations. It is a crucial part of the $40 billion global banana industry. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), TR-4 variant of the disease is the most destructive of all banana plant diseases, with the current strain threatening the Cavendish banana’s extinction.
TR-4 strain does affect other varieties of bananas as well, many of which are the primary food source in countries around the world. Currently, there is no viable solution for the disease in the world, which makes it a potent threat to not only the crops but farmers’ livelihood depending solely on cultivation of bananas.
“ICAR and Agrinnovate are proud of Innoterra’s vision and efforts to be at the forefront of ushering farmers sustenance and commercialise innovation-led technology for mitigating impact of climate change especially control of pest pandemic in banana globally. This is an excellent example of public-private-farmer partnership model,” said ICAR Director-General Trilochan Mohapatra said.
Holistic approach
T Damodaran, Head of Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI) and S Rajan, Director of Central Institute of Sub-tropical Horticulture (CISH) and, who led the development of the FUSICONT solution, are veteran experts of banana cultivation at ICAR.
Damodaran said, “We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Innoterra, one of the first organisations in India to take initiative in fighting Panama disease globally to maintain the health and sustainability of Cavendish bananas. We look forward to advancing the FUSICONT biopesticide technology and developing a viable, long-term solution to the severe threat posed by the TR4 strain of Panama disease.”
Since 2010, TR4 has spread to major countries around the world. Due to limited knowledge and lack of management models and resources to fight this disease it is a becoming an increasing concern in India and worldwide. Innoterra’s strategy is developing comprehensive solutions that achieve complete plant health rather than just the containment of spread.
Anup Karwa, Head of Operations, India crops division, Innoterra, commented: “Innoterra is glad to be the first-mover in partnering with ICAR for FUSICONT and conducting planned trials at our farms across South Asia – a cost-effective and scalable solution against TR4 is in the interest of the global farming community, especially small- and mid-holder farmers who are severely affected by this disease today. We expect to curb production losses up to 90 per cent with FUSICONT, helping our farmers up the yield and maintain quality of banana crops consistently over the years. The biopesticide has shown promising results in ICAR’s large scale validation in hotspots of India and has proven to be a sustainable solution for the environment.”
FUSICONT is in advanced stages of commercialisation and has also received regulatory approval from Central Insecticide Board.
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