Promip launches biological solution to control whiteflies

With two biofactories in the State of São Paulo, Brazilian company Promip wants to revolutionize the standard treatment for controlling the whitefly insect (Bemisia tabaci) in crops, already in the harvest season (2021-22). The company developed a pest management strategy, anchored in two biological agents: a predatory mite and an entomopathogenic fungus. Incorporated into integrated pest management (IPM) techniques, says Promip, these organisms control whiteflies more effectively, including populations resistant to chemical active ingredients.

“The predatory mite, macrobiological, consumes eggs and first-instar nymphs of the whitefly (1,5 mm to 2 mm in length), while the fungus, microbiological, attacks nymphs and adults of the pest”, summarizes Marcelo Poletti, agricultural engineer, co-founder and CEO of Promip. Whiteflies are present in the country's main crops today, including beans, soybeans, cotton and horticulture. “Uncontrolled, it causes losses of more than 50% in a crop”, adds Poletti.

According to the executive, the predatory mite, called Amblyseius tamatavensis, and the fungus Beauveria bassiana form the basis of the Amblymip and Bovemip products, respectively, both in the company's portfolio. The CEO also emphasizes that Amblymip is the first macrobiological biodefensive registered in Brazil specifically for whitefly control.

“Whiteflies have developed resistance to active ingredients in agrochemicals. Consequently, containing the plague has become more complex. Today, there is no other more effective means of controlling this insect than IPM, based on the combined application of chemical insecticides and bio-inputs”, explains Poletti. “The MIP technique has evolved throughout the world in recent decades, to the point of establishing itself as a basic prerequisite in sustainability assessments of agricultural production”, concludes Marcelo Poletti.

Origin and advancement 

Opened in 2006, Promip began operating in a 30 m² room in the Esalqtec business incubator, at the Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (USP), in Piracicaba, São Paulo. Today, it employs more than 120 employees in the Campinas (SP) region. The company has a

Inovações, installed in the city of Conchal, with 100 hectares, and a Model Farm, in neighboring Engenheiro Coelho, which occupies 60 thousand m². According to Poletti, Promip became the first company to receive investment from the São Paulo Innovation Fund, whose shareholders are the Desenvolvimento SP program (State Government), Fapesp, Finep and Sebrae, in addition to the Development Bank of America Latin and the 'Jive'.

Aimed at the identification, production and commercialization of natural enemies of pests, with macrobiological and microbiological origin, Promip distributes a portfolio of 12 biodefensive products. Its clients are farmers, large agricultural groups and agrochemical companies. In addition to bioinputs, the company offers more than 30 types of agricultural research, linked to the effectiveness and economic viability of IPM, management of pest resistance to agricultural and biological pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).