Innovation Case: Microbial Pesticides
Microbial pesticides are agrochemical products with excellent safety and low environmental impact, developed by focusing on useful microorganisms that originally exist in the natural world and using proprietary technologies. As interest in environmental issues grows, there is a growing concern in the agricultural sector about the environmental impact of fertilizers and chemical pesticides. Furthermore, pests resistant to chemical pesticides have become an issue, which led to the need for a different method of pest control. This prompted us to begin research on highly effective microbial pesticides.
In this research, we discovered the trichoderma atroviride SKT-1 strain, a microorganism that is effective in controlling rice diseases, and formulated it into a formulation that has now become the microbial pesticide Ecohope.
Microbial pesticides usually have the disadvantage of poor storage stability and high production costs because they require the live microorganisms to be cultured and formulated. For this reason, we have established a low-cost, mass-production method for SKT-1 strain spores at our research institutes and have perfected a liquid formulation that can be diluted and used as-is. We have conducted numerous tests on Ecohope and have confirmed that it is highly effective against rice diseases, has no effect on humans or livestock, and has very little impact on the environment.
In 2007, we received the Society Award (on prominent achievement) from the Pesticide Science Society of Japan for the development and commercialization of Trichoderma asperellum SKT-1 (Ecohope), a microbial pesticide. In 2008, we also received the President's Award from the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Technical Information Society for the development of Ecohope.
