PuriCore product gets grant to fight 'corn smut'

PuriCore, the contamination control company, says the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council has granted the University of Oxford half a million pounds to research its ActiVita product, a fungicidal solution designed to protect crops from infections.

The three-year grant will fund research focused on exploring the mode of action of the ActiVita solution on fungi that devastate major food crops, including wheat, rice and maize.

Christopher Wightman, Executive Chairman of PuriCore, said: "The annual fungicide market is valued at approximately $12bn worldwide, yet substantial crop loss due to pathogen infestation continues to be a major issue ... we believe that ActiVita could represent a significant scientific advancement in protecting important food crops from plant disease."

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The person who will lead the research, Sarah Gurr, Professor of Molecular Plant Pathology, at the University of Oxford, says the problem is that "extant fungal strains, and now, even more aggressive emerging strains, pose a serious threat to our annual harvests and so challenge global food security."

The figures back up her assertion; 10-30% of harvestable rice is lost to the "rice blast" fungus; 10-70% of harvestable wheat is lost due to stem rust infection; and 2-20% of harvestable maize is lost to the worryingly named "corn smut".

Shares in PuriCore had risen 8.5% by 11:09am. Over the last 12 months the stock is up 14%.

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