Timorex Gold® black sigatoka
Effective against Black Sigatoka
Black Sigatoka, known as black leaf streak, a disease caused by Mycosphaerella fijiensis Morelet, and considered the most destructive and costly disease in banana production, leads to the use of up to 70 synthetic fungicide sprays per year. Fortunately, today there are alternative, innovative and sustainable products to control a devastating disease that can destroy an entire plantation.
“There is a huge concern in various banana-producing countries, on the internet or the news, expressing fears that plaintain / banana is threatened with extinction.”
However, there is a solution, which besides being natural, can control Black Sigatoka. Over the past 10 years, the Stockton Company, through various R & D studies, as well as field trials, has proven that the curative and preventive activity of the bio fungicide Timorex Gold® has shown outstanding efficacy in the control of this disease, through its multiple mechanisms, controlling Black Sigatoka with great efficiency even under the most intense disease pressure conditions.
Timorex Gold® is a contact bio fungicide based on the Melaleuca alternifoliaplant extract. Thanks to its multiple components, it controls a broad spectrum of fungal and bacterial diseases in various crops, including rice, banana, berries, coffee, cocoa, fruit, herbs, and vines, besides being an eco-friendly and residue-free product.
Timorex Gold® is a product widely used by banana growers to control Black Sigatoka (Mycosphaerella fijiensis) in several banana producing countries. Its use has spread for more than a decade in some of them. Currently, the product is registered in more than 30 countries, including the U.S.A, where it has been registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and classified by FRAC in the F7 Group, Code 46, not being reported any risk of inducing resistance, making it an excellent tool for managing resistance to the Black Sigatoka.
Timorex Gold® has the ability to inhibit lesions expansion of on foliage and fruit. Given its lipophilic properties, it is able to penetrate through the cuticle barrier to the mesophyll, enabling prevention or inhibition of fungal development in the tissue. Timorex Gold’s preventive and curative activity converts it into a bio fungicide with a new concept for an effective and sustainable control of various diseases over time.
Investment in research
The Stockton Company (STK) compass always points towards research and development. Its initial focus was to test the effectiveness of Timorex Gold® in controlling Black Sigatoka. Prof. Moshe Reuveni has received his doctorate in Plant Pathology from the Department of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University in Israel in 1982, and works very hard in the task of understanding the different mechanisms of the antifungal activity that the Melaleuca alternifolia extract exerts over Mycosphaerella fijiensis.
Professor Reuveni dedicated his life to investigating the activity of Melaleuca alternifolia extract and has done considerable research and written several articles on the subject. He also presented numerous lectures during various conferences on the “Unique Mode of Action of Timorex Gold®”, which explaining the exceptional curative activity in the control of Black Sigatoka in Bananas.
In 2011, the Stockton Company and Prof. Reuveni with a team of researchers from the University of Costa Rica and Gainesville in Florida, together with the Experimental Station of Monreri in Costa Rica, made a research study to understand the curative mode of action of Timorex Gold® on Black Sigatoka. Under high-resolution electron microscopy, sections of leaves infected with the Black Sigatoka disease were observed, revealing that Timorex Gold® disrupted the cellular membrane causing a breakdown of fungi cell walls, displaying high effectiveness in controlling Black Sigatoka.
From 2008 to 2009 in Belize, in a commercial area of 134 hectares, bananas were treated with the Timorex Gold® biofungicide, increasing the harvest of healthy leave production by 1 kg per cluster, with good control over Black Sigatoka.
“There are no doubts that our bio fungicide Timorex Gold® is an effective tool in the fight against Black Sigatoka,” explained Guy Elitzur, Stockton´s President (STK). “I cannot imagine how costly the Black Sigatoka disease is for banana growers, and how it could reach hundreds of millions of dollars! This is a huge amount of money trying to control this devastating disease, and above all, the vast amount of chemical load that may affect the surrounding community and the workers.”
Timorex Gold® is an excellent tool for resistance management, and its use is widely adopted in traditional and organic agriculture. Timorex Gold® is an essential tool that may be included in a rotation program to prevent development of cross – resistance during the season.
By incorporating Timorex Gold® regularly in any disease management program, the bio fungicide is able to reduce the chemical load, and harmful residue levels in the plant. Timorex Gold® leaves no residue in soil, water, or in the air. It is harmless to beneficial insects and bees and is safe for human surroundings and the environment.
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