The “Bacteria Revolution”: “Biological Sealing” as a life insurance policy for healthy and sustainable agriculture
In the current post-pruning season, this process is crucial. Through it, certain
specifically selected fungi and bacteria become beneficial, enabling
the development of proactive and preventative strategies based on nature.
August 2025 – Chile is considered an agricultural country. Its geographical and climatic diversity facilitates a wide range of food production, both for domestic consumption and
for export.
Therefore, this time of year is crucial for agriculture and, consequently, for the Chilean economy in general. This is because we are in the middle of pruning season, with threatening frosts during the winter, all before spring flowering.
During this period, low temperatures and reduced healing activity mean that pruning wounds, as well as those caused by frost or other climatic or management events, leave the plant susceptible to infection by pathogens for extended periods of time, from six to eight weeks. During this time, many things can go wrong with chemical applications, which have residual effects of up to 14 days. For example, the application may occur after the infection; the pathogen may be resistant to the chemical; the duration of the chemical’s effect on the pruning cut may be shorter than the cut’s susceptibility to the pathogen; or temperature, UV radiation, or the plant microbiota may alter the duration and effectiveness of fungicides.
Therefore, it is during these months that the so-called “Biological Sealing” becomes most important, a process where living organisms perform a joint biological action. This allows for the planning of an “intelligent and adaptable defense,” based on the colonization of pruning cuts and wounds by biological agents, selected for their ability to compete with pathogens, occupying their ecological niche and displacing them from these points of entry.
This procedure, unlike others applied in the national agricultural sector, helps to generate proactive and preventative strategies, avoiding having to wait for a crisis to occur before reacting. Furthermore, it is a “prevention with life,” inspired by biotechnology and the body’s natural ability to defend itself.
This is what some are already calling a true “Bacteria Revolution,” where a specifically selected fungus or bacterium becomes beneficial, capable of colonizing a wound more efficiently and quickly than pathogens by eliminating the latter’s defense and proliferation mechanisms, and healing more rapidly. Instead of using human resources, nature does its work. Thus, the quality and quantity of the harvest increases, and the health of the orchard and its productive potential are ensured. In other words, the economic sustainability of agricultural projects is strengthened, leaving aside chemical or partial alternatives that are harmful in the long run.
Dual “Biological Sealing”
In this context, Summit Agro Chile, a Japanese multinational that is part of the Sumitomo Corporation group, offers a dual “Biological Sealing” solution. This solution is the “Nacillus + Mamull” combination from Bioinsumos Nativa.
It consists of a comprehensive biological strategy, both curative and preventative, that creates a “biological shield” over each wound, activating intelligent, natural, and sustainable management that protects crops from the first cut. Nacillus acts against the bacteria that attack the phloem, while Mamull acts against the fungi that infect the xylem, establishing a complete “Biological Seal.”
Bioinsumos Nativa highlights the benefits of this combined product. “This winter, given the extreme frost conditions that coincide with pruning periods, it is necessary to consider certain precautions, especially for cherry, stone fruit, and kiwifruit. For this, we recommend the ‘Biological Sealing’ strategy, with the application of Nacillus + Mamull up to 24 hours after wounds or pruning,” advises Eduardo Donoso, R&D Director. “In other crops, such as apple, walnut, and hazelnut trees, only Mamull is recommended up to 48 hours after pruning,” he adds.
“For many years, farmers have become accustomed to reacting when it is sometimes too late, that is, when a crisis has already occurred, resorting to chemical products that mortgage the future,” comments Pablo Kauer, R&D Manager at Summit Agro Chile. “Therefore, our call is for prevention, promoting this ‘Bacteria Revolution,’ where nature works in favor of healthy and sustainable agriculture,” he concludes.