As the planting season gets underway in Brazil, Agrauxine, in partnership with distributor Ihara, has just launched Romeo SC, a biocontrol solution for preventive control of Asian soybean rust. Frédéric Lievens, Marketing Manager, talks about this important launch for the future of Agrauxine.
Why does the launch of Romeo SC in Brazil mark an important step in Agrauxine's development?
Romeo SC is a biofungicide based on Cerevisane® LAS117 in a liquid formulation for preventive control of Asian soybean rust. This disease is one of the main diseases affecting soybean yields in Brazil and Paraguay. And Brazil is a key market, being the world's largest soybean producer and leading exporter.
To be able to offer, via our distributor Ihara, a biocontrol product that addresses a major issue in a key market is therefore a source of great pride for Agrauxine, and will enable the company to gain worldwide recognition.
Moreover, while the progress of biocontrol is undeniable, the number of authorized biocontrol solutions for field crops is still much lower than for specialized crops such as vines, arboriculture or even market gardening.
This launch is therefore also an important milestone for Agrauxine, as Romeo SC is our first biocontrol product for field crops.
Can you tell us more about the development of Romeo SC?
The development of Romeo SC is the fruit of over 6 years' research.
We started with a product and a mode of action known in Europe (activation of the plant's defense metabolisms), but we had to readapt everything to be able to respond to the problems encountered in Brazil.
Over a period of 3 seasons, we worked with local teams and partners to set up numerous laboratory and field trials in the most relevant production regions in Brazil, in order to measure Romeo SC's efficacy and propose the most appropriate application program to optimize its effectiveness against soybean rust and manage resistance to conventional fungicides, and ultimately improve yields.
Romeo SC is therefore also the fruit of a partnership between different nationalities and corporate cultures, which is also a great source of pride for Agrauxine.