Ag Alert Feb. 16, 2022

Fertilizer Continued from Page 9

generation of biologicals may have to do more than helpmanage a particular dis- ease or insect pest. “If you are an inputs provider, what is your product doing for soil health and the microbiome, diversity score and count of each microbe?” she asked. “Are the mi- crobes antifungal, anddo theymakemore nitrogen available?” Primary BioAg Innovations is evaluat- ing a fumigant derived from muscodor albus, a fungus found in the Honduras

rain forest that kills bacteria and inhibits some insect pests. “It is as good asmethyl bromide, except it doesn’t kill weeds,”Marrone said. Research has shown that different vari- eties of corn, soy, wheat and strawberries attract differentmicrobes, and futureplant breeding could focus on providing crop varieties that attract abeneficialmixofmi- crobes fromthe soil. A parallel localized type of research

could be looking at the soil in healthy ar- eas within a diseased field to see if it con- tains beneficial compounds that could be used to make a tea to run through the irrigation lines. “Look at diseased fields with health- ier looking areas,” Marrone suggested. “Identify the microbes doing that and make a tea fromthem.” (Bob Johnson is a reporter in Monterey Coun t y . He may b e c on t a c t ed a t bjohn11135@gmail.com.)

with the principles of organic farming. “TheOrganicMaterialsReviewInstitute is continuing to review these products,” said Doug Currier, OMRI technical su- pervisor. “Nonsynthetics are generally al- lowed, with exceptions. But the National Organic Standards Board is looking at a carbon to nitrogen ratio standard.” Materials with high carbon to nitrogen ratios tend to make nitrogen available more slowly, which mitigates risks of ni- trate leaching into the groundwater. OMRI has the job of trying to mediate arguments over what is organic and what is not, which can be high-stakes disputes. Those tensions were illustrated when one organics materials supplier chal- lenged Currier at the Organic Grower Summit, saying thebusinesswasnotbeing inspected enough to certify its materials. “We’ve been inspected twice in 15 years,” the supplier complained, “andwe can run circles around the inspectors you send.” Meanwhile, one fertilizer that is consid- ered clearly organic is pellitizedmanure. Stemwedel described it as an effective option—when it can be obtained. He said consumer preference for eggs from cage- free chickens ismaking it harder to find. “There are shortages of chicken ma- nure because there are more free-range chickens, and the prices are going up,” Stemwedel said. There are already more biological ma- terials to helpmanage crop diseases and pests, and advances are helping make thesematerialsmore effective. Inparticu- lar, improvedmonitoring technology has made it possible to target biological dis- eases more precisely and employ insect controls, which work best before insect populationsmultiply. Biologicals are a small portion of all the materialsusedtocontrol cropdiseasesand pests, but resistance and regulation could change that overnight. Brazil, for example, passed the U.S. in use of biological materials after army- worms developed resistance to synthet- ic pesticides. “I’m seeing the convergence of IPM, precision agriculture and biologicals,” said Pam Marrone, executive chair of Primary BioAg Innovations and Global BioAg Linkages. Marrone has started or led five biolog- ical companies since 1990, when she left Monsanto after leading the company’s in- sect biology group for seven years. She said she has come to believe that precision monitoring can improve the efficacy of biological insecticides and fun- gicides by making it possible to apply the materials before pest or disease pathogen populations build up. “Biologicals are typically preventive,” Marrone said. “Data and imaging could be especially important for biologicals. Smart traps and spore traps couldmake it possible to provide themat the best time.” Primary BioAg Innovations produc- es a plant-based nitrogen fertilizer that can be takenup immediately by the crop, which would allow organic farmers to play catch-up. Marrone believes the next

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February 16, 2022 Ag Alert 11