New Antibiotic for Apples and Pears

I'm Bob Larson with today's Fruit Grower Report. Destructive bacterial diseases are a serious nemesis for Washington apple and pear crops. But now, there's a new tool to help growers in that fight.

Arysta LifeScience's Layne Wade says Kasumin is different from other bactericides and can be an effective component of any resistance management strategy...

LAYNE WADE ... "Well, Kasumin is registered in the state of Washington for Fire Blight control. So, the fruit trees, Pome Fruit, so pears and apples that are susceptible to Fire Blight which is a bacteria. Erwinia Amylovora is the organism, but Fire Blight is the disease that is caused by the organism, and it's a severe disease that hits Pome Fruit throughout the United States. But in the Pacific Northwest Pome Fruit are so important and they're so well-adapted and the quality of the fruit is so excellent up there, that you want to do everything you can to protect them."

Wade says it's a game-changer that's been a long-time coming ...

LAYNE WADE ... "And it's the first antibiotic that's been registered by the EPA in the U.S. since Oxytetracycline over 40 years ago. So, getting that registration was a pretty historical event and it took a lot of time and effort and a lot of coordination through different channels, including the governmental channels."

Wade says one of the keys to Fire Blight is that while it's not a mold that attacks the fruit directly, it does attack the wood and can kill the trees.

Kasumin is currently registered in over 20 countries, but is new to the United States.