Araw biofungicide extended to new crops in Spain

UK-based crop protection company Eden Research has announced that its flagship biofungicide has received authorisation for use in new crops and fungal pathogens in Spain.

Mevalone, marketed as Araw in Spain by Sipcam Iberia, Eden’s commercial partner in Spain, Portugal and several other countries, will now be permitted for use against powdery mildew on 22 new crops, botrytis cinerea on 20 new crops, rust disease on eight new crops, and sclerotinia on four new crops. These new horticultural crops include a wide range of produce such as avocados, kiwifruit, mangoes, cherries, green beans, asparagus, leeks, and artichokes.

Araw has been a well-established solution to prevent botrytis in grapes since it was launched in Spain in 2016. Following the first label expansion in 2021, Araw has become the reference biofungicide in a wide range of horticultural crops and berries, including blueberry, tomato, cucumber and lettuce.

A large percentage of this produce is exported to other EU countries, as well as the UK and other premium markets. This has led to a significant increase in the commercialised volumes of Araw sold in Spain in recent years.

“This newly expanded label makes Araw one of the most versatile and reliable solutions to prevent fungal diseases in many crops under organic and conventional agriculture,” Eden Research said.

“Thanks to this new authorisation, obtained through Sipcam’s local regulatory team, all relevant horticultural crops in Spain can now be protected with Araw representing an excellent opportunity in several crops of growing importance, such as avocado, mango, and almond, which has become the third largest tree crop in Spain after olives and grapes.”

Spain boasts the largest cultivated area of almond trees in the world and ranks third in terms of overall production. Eden anticipates that this growth of the addressable market for Araw will contribute to revenue in 2025 and beyond.

Sean Smith, CEO of Eden Research, commented: “Today’s announcement is an excellent demonstration of our strategy to pursue growth opportunities through both new product introductions and with existing products by targeting new crop types and new disease targets.

“We are delighted to build on the success of our longstanding relationship with Sipcam. They have done an outstanding job of making the Iberian region an important and strong revenue-generating territory for the company.

“This label extension represents a significant additional growth opportunity for us. It not only includes numerous new crops and diseases, but it also includes a number of high-value crops that are particularly disease prone”.

This story was amended on 25 June to correct the location of Eden Research, which is based in the UK, not the US.