California-based Marrone Bio Innovations (NASDAQ:MBII) is already established internationally with its biofungicide 'Regalia', but now the company aims to make a mark outside the U.S. in more products as part of a broader global push.

Yesterday the company announced it had achieved registration in Mexico for the bioinsecticides 'Grandevo' and 'Venerate', which have the potential not only to aid organic growers but also provide residue relief in a range of export crops.

"They are very broad spectrum so they kill both sucking and chewing insects, and flies and mites, so they're unique but they're low risk - they don't kill anything else," founder and CEO Pam Marrone told www.freshfruitportal.com.

"We think it’s going to be a very interesting new tool for growers there where insects and mites are a real problem."

She said side-by-side field trials had shown these bioinsecticides had no statistical difference in performance when compared with traditional insecticide chemistries, but more education is required for them to be used effectively.

"If a grower is looking for something you put on the leaf and the insects are going to be dead within 24-48 hours, these are not those. They're more like insect growth regulators," Marrone said.

"For example, Grandevo stops insects’ reproduction so they don't lay more eggs. . Then it also excites the insects and they hate it when it gets on the leaf - it repels them and they stop feeding. It protects the plant but you might not see the insect die for seven to 10 days so it requires some education.

"Grandevo is only active from the insect feeding on it, but with Venerate it is activated by contact so you can put it on their back and they’ll die, but it’s also a growth regulator so you can stop them from moulting and feeding, and then they start dying."

She said Grandevo and Venerate could lead to "stunning results" in pest management programs to help manage insect populations.

"They should be used in an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) program with other products to prevent resistance from developing to chemicals and managing residues because we can spray right up to harvest.

"In sales in the United States the majority of our sales are in conventional. Let’s use strawberries as an example in California - when the populations are low and they want to stop them from increasing you’d use Grandevo first and then Venerate, and use either product before harvest.

"But if the populations are higher you’d start with Venerate and clean up with Grandevo, and rotate with other products to prevent resistance development."

She described the product as "mainstream" for organic growers, with great relevance also for exporters who are focused on markets where there is little tolerance for pesticide residue.

"In California we have some growers who use chemicals earlier in the season, and then they would use these products later in the season to have no residues, and earlier in the season to prevent resistance.

"Then there are the growers who are not necessarily worrying as much about residues, but they want control, and on something like lygus bug which pokes the berries and leaves a scar, there are only a few chemicals that work on that pest, so they would add Venerate or Grandevo to their tanks.

Marrone said the bioinsecticides were appropriate for a range of products including leafy greens, leafy vegetables, berries, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, potatoes and grapes, treating insects including psyllids, hoppers, mites, mealybugs, armyworms, thrips and moths.

"There are a lot of [organic leafy green] growers who prior to having these products would not have been able to manage their summer aphids," she said.

"It’s not on the label but Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) is a real problem here in the United States and spreading everywhere, and we had some very good trials and data on both products on Asian Citrus Psyllid in Mexico," she said, clarifying the trails took place in the state of Veracruz.

International expansion

In a release, the company's senior director of international business Julie Versman highlighted the great benefit these two bioinsecticides could bring to Mexican farmers as effective, reduced-risk pest management tools.

"Mexican regulatory agencies have designated both MBI insecticides with ‘green band’ status, meaning the products present minimal health risks to farm workers and food processors and, due to their worker safety, can be sprayed with minimal pre-harvest and re-entry intervals," Versman said.

Marrone said the group was looking to achieve registrations in export-oriented countries where the registration process wasn't too onerous.

"We have Regalia, which is our biofungicide, registered in many countries, mostly in Latin America but also Turkey, Morocco, South Africa, and then our bioinsecticides are waiting for approval in Europe which is not one of the easy ones," she said.

"Mexico is actually our first registration [for bioinsecticides] outside the United States, and we're also targeting countries like the Philippines, and Guatemala in Central America, where we can get the registration really quickly - and I mean in a year or less.

"In the Philippines they export to South Korea and Japan and they’re ultra-sensitive about chemical residues, and we have a nice fit there. They spray so many times, up to 50 times a year, and the pest pressure is high so they need additional tools for both resistance and residue."

When asked about South America, she said the company was currently working on submitting registrations in Chile and other nations on the continent.

"We're waiting on Regalia which controls mildews and other plant diseases, like botrytis on grapes. That is pending in Chile right now, we’re working with the authorities on what we need to get it pushed out the door.

"We certainly will be submitting Grandevo and Venerate to Chile – we’re looking for partners, and we’ll most likely be looking for a local partner that has a close relationship with the farmer. But that’s open, we’re flexible in our strategy there.

"There’s a lot of opportunity there in Chile, particularly in grapes – there are mealybugs, mites, hoppers and other things, and also we have a great offering for blueberries in Regalia against mummy berry disease as well as insects and treating any tree fruit."

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