Nontoxic disease control solution outperforms existing products & increases yields by up to 2 tons per hectare

March 4, 2025 - Ithaca, New York - Ascribe, an innovator in natural crop protection, today announced results from 2024 field trials in India with Phytalix®, its flagship, non-toxic solution for disease control. The trials confirm Phytalix provides unparalleled defense against Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB) in rice, effectively protecting one of the world's most important food sources and increasing yields by up to 2 tons per hectare. It offers a sustainable, healthier, and more powerful alternative to common synthetic fungicides or antibiotics.

Field Trials Show Industry-Leading Efficacy
The field trials in India's major rice-growing regions demonstrated Phytalix's effectiveness as a safe, new mode of action for protecting rice from BLB.

Key findings include:
• 83% reduction in BLB severity, outperforming currently available treatments by over 20%
• Up to 30% yield increase in trial sites with high BLB pressure
• Average 13% yield increase from Phytalix across all trial sites, including sites impacted by other rice diseases like Sheath Blight or Rice Blast
• 100% compatibility with the existing practices of both smallholder farmers and large-scale production

The studies were conducted by contract research organization AgReveal across 17 trial sites in India.

"Asian strains of BLB are aggressive and pose a serious threat to rice crops," said Srinivas Veeranki, Managing Director of AgReveal. "The success of our field trials in India demonstrates Phytalix is a major step forward for farmers and global food security, offering effective and long-lasting disease control while also making rice production more resilient to growing environmental and market challenges."

A Critical Solution for Rice Farmers
Rice is the staple food for over half of the world's population, and 90% of rice is grown in Asia. India is the second largest producer, accounting for 26% of total production. BLB, caused by the bacterium Xanthamonas oryzae, is a widespread and devastating disease and a major threat to food security, causing crop losses of up to 70% in severe infestations.

Phytalix, which is applied as a foliar spray at a low application rate, strengthens plants' immune systems to help the crop ward off infection. It is an effective, natural, and scalable solution that improves crop health, yield, and sustainability while protecting the health of farmers and consumers.

Phytalix's efficacy surpassed current solutions in controlling BLB, all of which have shortcomings:
• Chemical pesticides: The few with activity against BLB, like copper salts, are toxic to the environment and degrade soil health.
• Antibiotics: Using human medicines like streptomycin and tetracycline on field crops drives antibiotic resistance, and the World Health Organization advises these are not a long-term solution.
• Rice breeding programs: While promising, new varieties can take years to develop.

"BLB is just one of many challenges farmers face," said Jay Farmer, CEO and Co-founder of Ascribe. "We're trying to equip farmers all over the world with scientifically validated, natural crop protection that improves both productivity and sustainability. These Phytalix field trials show that sometimes the biological solution can be the farmer's first choice for performance."

Scaling Up for Global Impact
Regulatory approval is pending for Phytalix biofungicide in Brazil and the U.S. With these important results from India, Ascribe will be initiating the required regulatory approval processes in key Asian rice-producing counties to bring Phytalix to the farmers who need it most in the fight against BLB.
To learn more about Phytalix and Ascribe's efforts to help farmers grow more resilient plants through natural crop protection, visit https://ascribebio.com/.

About Ascribe Bio
Ascribe is an Ithaca, NY-based agricultural technology company developing natural crop protection solutions. Founded in 2017 based on research from the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University, Ascribe's flagship biofungicide, Phytalix®, harnesses small molecules from the soil microbiome to create effective, environmentally friendly disease control solutions that help farmers grow more resilient crops and harvest higher yields.