Technology developed in New Zealand is helping reduce the use of chemicals on farms and orchards.
The technology, known as Illicitor, protects a plant and encourages its performance by turning on its defence and strengthening its cell walls when attacked by fungi such as powdery mildew, botrytis and those causing fungal infections in stock, such as facial eczema.
It was developed over a period of six years by AgResearch, with taxpayer funding, and has been commercialised by Omnia Primaxa and licensed locally to Southern Soil Solutions Ltd.
Omnia Primaxa managing director Rob Clarke said Illicitor was not registered as a fungicide but as health folia.
It could be used on its own or mixed with other products such as fertiliser or even an established fungicide.
It made the plant healthierand more resistant to fungus attacks, he said.
Southern Soils agricultural specialist Malcolm McCall said Illicitor could have a role combating endophyte fungi in ryegrass, and it was a role he intended researching.
Mr McCall said it could also be used in brassica crops, which may be attacked by fungi, with the number of applications dependent on the severity of the attack.
A Hawkes Bay vineyard applied three sprays at seven litres a hectare at a product cost of $120, and Mr Clarke said the yield increased by two tonnes a ha compared with a year earlier.