Serifel Biological Fungicide

Serifel Biological Fungicide

Breaking the mould with biological botrytis control

Mode of action: Group 44 fungicide
Active ingredient(s): 110g/kg (>5.5 x 1010 CFU/g) Bacillus amyloliquifaciens strain MBI600

Serifel® offers grape and strawberry growers a ground-breaking biological alternative to any of the chemical modes of action you have relied on to control botrytis until now. You can use Serifel standalone or in tank-mixes to reduce your use of chemical fungicides or boost their effectiveness. With no withholding period or maximum residue limit, Serifel can be used right up to harvest. Its high loading of pure spores allows low application rates and results in very low levels of spray deposition – making it an advance on other biological products as well as conventional fungicides.

Key benefits

• Unique modes of action
• Low environmental impact and toxicity
• Lower spray rate compared to other biologicals
• No cross-resistance between Serifel and conventional chemical fungicides

How it works

The active ingredient in Serifel® is bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain MBI600 (min 5.5 x 10^10 cfu/g). Serifel forms a ‘shield of protection’ against a broad spectrum of plant pathogens using three modes of action: competition for space, competition for sustenance and the production of antifungal metabolites.

When the Serifel spores are the first to occupy the limited space on the plant, they physically exclude plant pathogens from occupying the same space. Serifel then depletes the supply of nutrients available to the pathogen spores on the plant surface, causing any pathogen spores on the plant surface to die. The antifungal metabolites produced by Serifel, surfactin and iturin, penetrate pathogen cell membranes, disrupting cell function and causing cell death on the plant’s surface.

It is critical Serifel is used preventatively rather than curatively because Serifel cannot eliminate pathogen spores that have already infiltrated the plant’s surface.