Ascribe Bio’s Phytalix sets new standard in rice disease control

Crop protection company Ascribe Bio announced significant findings from its 2024 field trials of the non-toxic disease control solution Phytalix in India. These results indicate that Phytalix not only offers superior protection against Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB) in rice but also enhances crop yields by up to 2 tons per hectare. With such impressive results, Phytalix may become a potent alternative to conventional synthetic fungicides and antibiotics, promising a sustainable and effective solution for global rice production.

The trials, conducted across 17 major rice-growing regions in India by the contract research organization AgReveal, demonstrated:

• 83% reduction in BLB severity, outperforming currently available treatments by over 20%
• Up to 30% yield increase in trial sites with high BLB pressure
• Average 13% yield increase from Phytalix across all trial sites, including sites impacted by other rice diseases like Sheath Blight or Rice Blast
• 100% compatibility with the existing practices of both smallholder farmers and large-scale production

Srinivas Veeranki, Managing Director of AgReveal, highlighted the aggressive nature of Asian BLB strains and their threat to rice crops. He noted, “The success of our field trials in India demonstrates Phytalix as a major step forward for farmers and global food security, offering effective and long-lasting disease control while also making rice production more resilient to growing environmental and market challenges.”

BLB, caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae, can lead to crop losses of up to 70% in severe cases. Phytalix, applied as a foliar spray, enhances the plants’ immune systems, enabling them to resist infections more effectively. This represents a scalable, natural solution that improves crop health and yield while safeguarding farmer and consumer health.

While chemical pesticides, such as copper salts, pose environmental risks and degrade soil health, and the use of antibiotics like streptomycin and tetracycline promotes antibiotic resistance, making them unsustainable, Ascribe Bio’s solution offers biological and natural crop protection that improves both productivity and sustainability.

Ascribe is now pursuing regulatory approvals for Phytalix in Brazil and the U.S. together with the plans to initiate approval processes in key Asian rice-producing countries.