5
THECOMMERCIAL GREENHOUSEGROWER • MAY 2018
Biopesticide gains
glasshouse approval
;Oe fiYs[ WlaU[ eliJi[VY ^i[OVU laIel aWWYV]al MVY \se VU
horticultural crops in theUKwas authorised inMarch.
Fytosavewas developedby Fytofend, a spin-off from
theBelgianUniversity of Namur andSpanishbiotech
company LIDAPlant Research. It targets powderymildew
onglasshouse crops including aubergine, cucumbers,
peppers and tomatoes – the treatment canonly be
made on crops inpermanent protective structures
with full enclosure. Fytosave is basedon a complex of
carbohydrates derived from chitinwhich triggers a natural
defence response from theplant. The response includes
stimulatinggenes responsible for strengthening cell
walls and theproductionof enzymeswhich act on the
pathogen’s cell wall. Fytofend says it shouldbe applied
preventively, two to three times, before thedisease is
seen. Plant elicitors are a type of biopesticidewhichhave
been subject to an increasing research interest. Because
of theway theywork, they are inherently low hazard
and leave no residues. Theproduct Vacciplant was the
fiYs[ [VIe a\[OVYised iU [Oe<2 [V JVU[YVl disease iU
winter wheat, although it is approved for use on some
horticultural crops in several other countries.
New direction for
disease expert
MartinMcPherson, one of thebest-knownplant
pathologistsworking in theprotected crops sector,
has steppeddown as sciencedirector at Stockbridge
TechnologyCentre, NorthYorkshire. Heplans to continue
tobe involved in the industry as an independent part-time
consultant. During the course of his career, DrMcPherson
has led a range of researchprogrammes on some of
horticulture’smost intractablediseaseproblems, perhaps
themost notablebeingdownymildews on lettuce and
impatiens and, in cucumbers, gummy stemblight.
But it is his role in setting upwhat was tobecome the
EAMUprogramme, for authorisingminor uses of crop
protectionproducts, that has probably had thebiggest
impact ongrowers across all sectors. “I wasworking as
anADASplant pathologist in the early 1990s,” he told
Commercial GreenhouseGrower. “NewEU legislation
onproduct approvalswas coming in and it looked as
if it was going to cause real problems for horticultural
cropswhere the costs of the testing required for residues
aUd eMMeJ[i]eUess MVY iUs[aUJe JV\ldU»[ Ie Q\s[ifiedI`
manufacturers basedon the volumes sold togrowers.
“Therewas amechanism for individual growers togather
their owndata for authorisations but that would have led
to a lot of duplication andbeenneither practical nor cost-
effective.Wewere heading for chaos and the clockwas
ticking.”DrMcPherson approachedwhat was thenHDC
with the idea for a scheme to co-ordinate applications
to secure ‘off label’ uses. They recognised theproblem
right away and askedhim to set it upon their behalf. “I
initially thought it was going tobe a three-year jobbut
it remains vital today,” he said. “There are nowmore
EAMUs thanon-label approvals andwithout the scheme
cropprotection in horticulturewouldbe a real mess.”
DrMcPherson transferred
toStockbridgewhenADAS
was privatised in the early
1990s and the experimental
horticulture stationbecame
part of theMAFF-funded
HorticultureResearch
International. Subsequent
government funding cuts
sawStockbridge facing
closure in2001but support
from the industry both locally
and nationally resulted in a
rescueplan. That led to the establishment of Stockbridge
TechnologyCentre, whichoperates as an independent
company to carry out R&D and run aplant health
clinic for the industry. “It was really important to keep
Stockbridge going,” saidDrMcPherson. “Therewas so
little commercially relevant R&Dbeingundertaken for the
industry at the time andgrowers saw itswork as hugely
important.”HebelievesSTC’smore recent researchon
LEDs, whichhas seen it construct apurpose-built facility
with a range of LEDmodules, is probably the singlemost
siNUifiJaU[ JVU[YiI\[iVU [Oe VYNaUisa[iVU OasTade siUJe
then. “It was amajor commitment at a timewhen it wasn’t
clear that the technologywas going tobewidely viable for
many growers,” he said. “But the research team has been
able toworkwith the industry andwe are now seeing LED
systems being taken up.”Hewelcomes the establishment
of new facilities for research inbiopesticides at
Stockbridge as part of the newgovernment-fundedCrop
Health&Protectionnetwork. “That’s just the sort of thing
that needs to continue inother areas of new technology,”
he said. “For instance, I’m very excited about thepotential
of newdiseasediagnostics. Unfortunately, though, the
way research funding is structured still makes suchwork
Yeall` diMfiJ\l[ [VNe[ VMM [Oe NYV\Ud ¹
MartinMcPherson.
