A natural products-based herbicide - 2127
- *Abstract
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Overview
Farmers rankweeds as one of the most troublesome, time-consuming and costly productionissues. Competing with crops for nutrientsand water, weeds cut into a farm’s profitability by rendering low-yield andpoorer quality harvests. Thus, farmersrely heavily on herbicides with global expenditures on herbicides expected togrow to $30 billion by 2019.
Theherbicide market is currently dominated by synthetic compounds, but interest innaturally-occurring materials is increasing. First, the emergence of herbicide-resistant strains drives thedevelopment of herbicides with new modes of action. Second, the global organic food market isgrowing approximately three times faster than the total world food productsmarket. As a result, bioherbicides andorganic herbicides are likely to grow at the fastest rate among all types ofherbicides.
Invention
University of Kentucky researchersare developing novel combinations of ribitol and other natural compounds usefulas herbicides for pre- and post-emergent weed control—inhibiting seedgermination and killing seedlings and growing plants. This natural herbicide was effective againsta wide variety of annual and perennial weed species. Additionally, the herbicidal effect persisteda month after final application and was not diminished due to rainfall.
Applications
This novel herbicide can be usedto control weeds that have developed resistance to other herbicides.
Because this herbicidal treatment contains onlynaturally-occurring materials, it is well suited for use in organic farming aswell as conventional systems.
Advantages
- new mode of action
- may be used in both conventional and organic farming
- inhibitsseed germination
- killsseedlings and growing plants
- killsa wide range of annual and perennial weed species
- suitablefor use in crop plant agriculture, in lawns and turf areas, and vegetationmanagement
- lower-costmakes multiple applications commercially feasible
- less likely residue will persist
Development Stage: In the second round of field testing
IP Status:
U.S. Patent Application 15/472,876
International Patent App. No. PCT/US2017/50992
- Country/Region
- USA
