site.btaBulgarian Scientists Create Bacterial Bioinsecticide with Agricultural Application Ready for Sale on Five Continents

Bulgarian scientists have developed a new bacterial bioinsecticide for widespread use in agricultural pest control, Prof. Penka Petrova said in an interview with BTA's Dimitrina Vetova. The innovative broad-spectrum biological insecticide was developed jointly by the Institute of Microbiology, which Prof. Petrova heads, and the Institute of Chemical Engineering at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), and is supported by the company Agria AD. 

She explained that the bioinsecticide is based on a new Bulgarian strain of Bacillus thuringiensis, which shows broad-spectrum effectiveness against key agricultural pests, such as moths, Colorado potato beetle, nematodes and snails. Genomic analysis of the strain revealed the presence of toxin-encoding genes, and microscopic studies confirmed the presence of active spores and crystal toxins.

Field trials conducted on tomatoes attacked by pests showed significant suppression of the leaf-mining moth and the cotton bollworm, with the effectiveness of the Bulgarian formulation equal to or higher than that of established commercial products. The advantages of the new formulation are related to the significantly broader spectrum of action and relatively lower cost. The lyophilised formulation provides stability and convenience in storage and application, and its environmental safety makes it suitable for both conventional and organic farming. 

The new bioinsecticide is a vivid example of a successful partnership between science and business, and offers a sustainable and ecological solution to an important agricultural problem, with high applicability in the conditions of climate change and the need for green technologies, noted Prof. Petrova.

She said that the innovative biological insecticide with broad-spectrum action was presented at the 5th Science for Business Forum, organized by BAS and the Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency in June.

This is the first insecticide against the Colorado potato beetle, it is characterized by high efficiency and with relatively inexpensive production. It will be available in liquid and lyophilised formulations, explained Prof. Petrova. 

She said that the Agria company intends to market the bioinsecticide in the near future. It was developed as a result of a joint project from 2021 and four years later, the joint team succeeded in patenting the preparation. She underscored that the product has been made as cheap as possible so that production is cheaper; this new preparation is lower cost than commercial preparations and should be sold at lower prices in Bulgaria. All this will now depend on the Agria company. 

Prof. Petrova specified that US, French, and even Romanian preparations are being sold, which have a different strain of the same type of bacteria. They are sold at much higher prices. "Presumably, because of the more advantageous technology, we will be able to create a cheaper product," she explained. 

"Agria itself has a decades-long tradition of manufacturing and supplying plant protection products on five continents. The company also produces fertilizers and many other products for the agro-industry and for agriculture. The team has the ambition to offer the market an alternative to chemical pesticides and to start developing a series of biopesticides. Our product is just that, and this is very important because its active ingredients are not chemical compounds but microorganisms, spores and toxins with insecticidal action," Prof. Petrova told BTA.