Bee Vectoring Technology announced in a news release on August 28 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved Clonostachys rosea strain CR-7 for use as a fungicide on commercial crops. According to the release, CR-7 is the first registered active ingredient for the Canadian-based company and the first active ingredient approved by the EPA for application via bees, known as bee vectoring.

“We are incredibly pleased to have accomplished this feat and are both proud and excited to put the BVT solution into the hands of farmers in the U.S. and are looking forward to future approvals in major agricultural regions around the world,” Michael Collinson, chairman of the board of directors for BVT, said in the release.

Sold under the brand name Vectorite with CR-7, the product is currently labeled for a variety of high-value crops, including blueberries, strawberries, sunflowers and almonds.

The EPA’s registration makes the product available immediately for sale as a registered fungicide for use on the labeled crops.

“By using commercially reared bees to deliver biological products, growers can protect crops, increase crop yields and enhance their sustainable growing practices by reducing the use of chemicals and other costly and increasingly scarce resources including water, fuel and labor,” said Ashish Malik, CEO of BVT, in the news release.

For more information about bee vectoring technology, see our story in the July 2019 isssue of Good Fruit Grower: Bee-based biocontrol