Well known for its treatment of Black Sigatoka on banana plantations, Israeli company Stockton's Timorex Gold biofungicide has also proven its worth in the treatment of many common diseases affecting temperate fruit like table grapes and berries in South America. Now the group's U.S. arm aims to build a market in one of the world's leading agricultural nations, not just on the premise of reducing chemical residues but warding off pathogen resistance through pesticide rotation. 

Botrytis, sour rot, monilinia, gray rot and many more plant diseases belong to the same crop-destroying fungal family as Black Sigatoka, so for Stockton USA country manager Sarah Reiter it makes sense for Timorex Gold to find a nice fit in North America.

"Over the years, they’ve done a really nice job expanding the understanding of the product’s fit in crops like grapes, cherries, blueberries and a number of fruit crops - the Latin American team in particular has been taking a leadership position," she says.

The executive joined Stockton in  February after years of experience in Bayer's biologics team and the start-up success story the German multinational acquired for US$425 million, AgraQuest.

"It feels really luxurious to be joining a company at this stage and launching the U.S. business based on the work that’s been done elsewhere," she says.

But the work is far from over. In 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted federal approval for the product's use on a range of crops, but the next step is to get approval in the states.

"We have all our registrations in Oregon, Washington, Texas, most of the northeast and most of the southeast as well, so we have work going on in a number of different crops ," she says.

"But we’re only pre-revenue in the two biggest states," says Stockton USA country manager Sarah Reiter, referring to California and Florida she says growers have shown interest in Timorex Gold.

She describes the existence of botrytis and sour rot in table and wine grape operations as the perfect example why.

"At the same time they’re trying to bring the sugars up in grapes just prior to harvest, some of the diseases like sour rot and botrytis really like that sugary closed bunch with nice foliage. It's a nice microclimate for the pathogens to be pretty aggressive at that stage.

"It's so close to harvest  that there are not a lot of other products – because of the pre-harvest labels – that can be used or because growers are trying to manage to a specific MRL (Maximum Residue Limit) or they’re growing organic.

"They can spray up to within a couple of days of harvest in most places – there’s organic certification so if they’re trying to manage to that or manage to meet an MRL model, Timorex doesn’t have an MRL. It’s a really nice tool for use in those kinds of settings."

In the case of strawberries the effect is similar, although due to the fruit's short shelf life Stockton encourages what it calls a "pre-harvest spray for post-harvest effect".

"It allows the berries to have a longer shelf life basically because they’re a little cleaner of pathogens as they’re coming out of the field, and that’s a nice added value to American growers that I think our strawberry growers are going to enjoy.

"Also, the work in cherries is focused on monilinia, and we're going to use that work in the U.S. to help us understand how the product is going to fit in almond; it's the same disease, and almond acreage is way up in the United States so we’re super excited about what we might be able to bring to growers of almonds with a new solution."

And it's not only fungal control the biopesticide offers, with Reiter highlighting its role in fighting bacteria as well.

"In the American market some of the most difficult fresh market tomato diseases are bacterial diseases, and in Florida where most of our fresh market tomatoes are grown, growers are making sprays as frequently as once a week and there aren’t a lot of bacterial control products.

"So they’re often using the same technology repeatedly and often it's copper sprays; copper is great, it works really well, but there are some downsides to it like the fact it accumulates in the soil.

"Having a partner for copper in alternation in order to give growers season-long protection, that's really exciting.

"We see some pretty nice seasonal yield increases because the growers are having such nice performance against the disease," she says, adding the protection can also be used during bloom time to avoid what sometimes happens with some products whereby they aren't used 100% correctly and the chemical's active ingredient gets "trapped" in the bloom and the crop.

She also points to the product's relevance in terms of its FRAC code 7, formulated by the Fungicide Resistance Action Committee. As it has a different number to most fungicides, it is apt for rotation with other chemicals in conventional agriculture and brings less likelihood of pathogen resistance.

With these characteristics, the sky (and regulations) are the limit for Timorex in the U.S., with Reiter signaling plans to test on a wide range of additional crops.

"We’re looking at its fit in avocado which is very interesting to us, also in hops, in rice which is definitely not a fruit or a vegetable, and sugarcane...there are a bunch of different expansions.

"One of the things missing from our label right now is the apple business so we’re looking at apples as an expansion area for us," she adds.

M&A strategy

When asked about other plans at the company, Reiter indicates there are some much larger corporate plays afoot, with Stockton currently in talks for potential acquisitions.

"It's exciting to have Timorex Gold to launch in the United States, but having just one product is probably too small for the kind of company we want to be so we’ve launched a very aggressive mergers and acquisitions plan.

"We’re looking at a number of opportunities to go out and find partners, new technologies that need a route to market, and in the sustainable ag space, particularly among biologics companies, there are many innovations that are well characterized from a research standpoint and need a company that’s strong in development and commercialization to bring them to market, and that’s where we see ourselves."

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