Promip has just registered at Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) a new biological product containing the wasp Trichogramm galloi (Trichomip-G) for the management of the sugarcane borer. According to the company, the product can be used on organic production as well as on the conventional production of sugarcane.
Trichogramm attacks the eggs of the sugarcane borer, inhibiting the plague development before it becomes a caterpillar, when it effectively damages the crop. Currently, the most used parasitoid for this plague in Brazil is Cotesia flavipes: with an estimation of over 3 million hectares are treated with this “microwasp”.
Studies reveal that the three consecutive releases of the Trichogramm and one application of Cotesia bring a reduction of over 50% at the index of infestation caused by the sugarcane borer. The biological product is offered with packages containing 50,000 or 100,000 parasitoids to be distributed in equidistant points within each plot in the field.
Promip was founded in 2006 at ESALTec, a technological incubator in Piracicaba in the state of São Paulo. The factory and its experimental station are located at Engenheiro Coelho in the same state. The Brazilian company produces and sells predators that complement the use of agrochemicals when controlling plagues, diseases or weeds.