An Alternative to Chemical Pesticides: KazNU Creates a Biopreparation for Natural Plant Protection

As in many countries worldwide, Kazakhstan's agricultural sector faces the dual challenge of reliably protecting crops from pests and diseases while simultaneously safeguarding the environment from technogenic pollution. According to the "Concept for the Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2021-2030," the underdevelopment of organic farming, which lags behind global best practices, remains one of the main problems facing crop production. In Kazakhstan, crop production accounts for nearly 54% of agricultural output, with gross production reaching approximately 5.8 trillion tenge in 2023.

The project's goal is to develop innovative biological crop protection technology based on microbial antagonists and their metabolites to restore agrocenosis health, reduce pesticide load, and produce environmentally safe crop output. The project's unique feature lies in creating two types of protective biopreparations offering both preventive and therapeutic effects. Three developed application methods - seed coating before sowing, plant spraying at different vegetation phases, and soil application as a root additive - will ensure their high efficiency.

The research covers three key areas: optimizing growth conditions for antagonist strains and selecting methods for extracting antifungal metabolites; detecting and characterizing microbial metabolites with antifungal activity; and obtaining and testing experimental samples of microbial preparations. The project's authors possess a collection of antagonist microorganisms - Talaromyces pinophilus T14, Beauveria bassiana T7 and T15, Jantinobacterium sp. Blue 1, and Lysinibacillus sp. S1 - along with invention patent No. 34305 for a Beauveria bassiana T7 micromycete strain resistant to heavy metals.

The research employs shaker-incubator cultivation, antifungal activity assessment via well and agar block methods, mass spectrometry analysis using an Agilent 6410 chromatograph, qualitative siderophore detection on CAS medium, and statistical data processing in STATISTICA 10 software. Test cultures will include phytopathogenic fungal strains Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium sporotrichioides, and Alternaria alternata, with barley serving as the model plant.

The project will result in at least 3 articles published in journals indexed in Web of Science or Scopus, at least 1 invention patent, and at least 2 articles in journals recommended by KOKSON. Effective antagonist strains will be deposited with the Republican Collection of Microorganisms LLP. The developed biopreparations will reduce mineral fertilizer doses by 20-90% and decrease plant infection rates by 2-7 times, making them a resource-saving technology with high commercialization potential given the absence of comparable products on the domestic market.

Spanning 36 months (2025-2027), the project aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 - ending hunger, achieving food security, and promoting sustainable agriculture - while helping stimulate export-oriented production and enhance the competitiveness of Kazakhstan's agro-industrial complex.