INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR PLANT PROTECTION BASED ON VEGETAL EXTRACTS AND LEATHER WASTE CAPITALIZATION – APPLICATION ON STRAWBERRY CULTURES

Innovative solutions in the decisive control of pests and elective treatments to stimulate agricultural production will accomplish the need to feed a growing global population and the long-term toxicity of synthetic fungicides. The product development is based on indigenous potential of natural antifungal compounds (eg vegetable extracts from fenugreek and marigold, tomato glycoalkaloids, etc.) as well as on circular bio-economy - obtaining protein hydrolysates from tannery waste. In this economic niche context, an innovative bio-fungicide and bio-stimulator prototype was created, with enhanced effectiveness through the profile and ratio of the associated active compounds, with an extended spectrum of action, GLYCAM-STIM Combo. The impact of two variants of biopesticide was compared to the commercial ecological product Serenade, on strawberries - Premial variety. It was investigated the development of gray rot - Botrytis cinerea and the effect on the production and quality of the fruits. The results demonstrate the limitation of the frequency of the attack and its intensity, the increase of fruit firmness and mass (by 8g) and the production’s rise by 7t/ha. The data confirm the applicability’s extension of the multifunctional biopesticide also at the level of the strawberry species, as well as in the protection of cherry orchards. The research was carried out within the project BIO-PLANT-PROTECT 262 / 2021.