Microbial biofungicides have come a long way since their introduction to North American greenhouse horticulture in the 1990s. While many growers regularly use one or more biofungicides in their integrated disease management (IDM) programs, others arehesitant to try them. Reasons for this range from "they haven't worked for us in the past" and "they seem more complicated than chemicals," to "we don't see how they'd benefit our crops more than our chemical program." When thinking about your own reasons, keep in mind that microbial fungicides have gone through a steady evolution over the past 20+ years. Product options, formulations, technical know-how, use-patterns, and efficacy have steadily improved and alleviated many grower concerns. This is similar to the path taken by commercially produced arthropod natural enemies - a group of beneficial organisms which now has a 90 per cent adoption rate across the industry.
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