PRB1 induces resistance in garlic, onion and pepper, increasing yield and crop quality

Abstract: A mixture of naturally-occurring compounds inducing plant innate immunity has been formulated as PRB1 for its use in agriculture with the aim to control plant diseases. Field trials have been set up to validate its use both as foliar treatment agent and as a fertirrigation additive. Independent trials in several years show that, PRB1 acts as an elicitor when applied to garlic as a preventive treatment increasing both the fresh and dry weight of garlic in a dose dependant manner. Furthermore, in comparative experiments with other commercial inducers we found that PRB1 has best performance in organic garlic production. In onion treatment, the weight increase is higher when PRB1 was applied directly by drip irrigation. In pepper greenhouse trials PRB1 is compatible with the bio-control agents Amblyseius swirskii and Orius laevigatus. PRB1 can be used in a numbers of crops to reduce disease levels and prevent the development and spread of pathogens, thus improving yield and quality in both integrated pest management and in organic agriculture.