Koppert is expanding its biological crop protection portfolio in Brazil with the commercial launch of Macan, a biological foliar fungicide designed to suppress rusts, leaf spot, target spot and other foliar diseases across soybean, corn and sugarcane.
The launch comes as growers face increasing disease pressure alongside the need to manage fungicide resistance and integrate biological products more effectively into conventional crop protection programmes. Koppert is positioning Macan not as a standalone alternative to conventional chemistry, but as a biological tool designed to fit into commercial disease-management programmes.
The product is the result of more than 15 years of research and international collaboration. It is based on an exclusive strain of Bacillus velezensis, CECT 8237, originally identified by the University of Málaga in Spain and subsequently developed with Koppert through a strategic partnership. Since 2018, the product has undergone extensive field evaluation across crops and growing environments. Following its registration in Brazil at the end of 2025, Macan is now being introduced commercially for the country’s upcoming growing season.
The product’s commercial proposition rests heavily on what happens after spraying. According to Koppert, the formulation enables the bacterium to establish biological activity rapidly on the leaf surface. The microorganism subsequently forms a stable biofilm, allowing continued colonisation of the leaf and creating a biological barrier against foliar pathogens. That persistence is particularly important for biological crop protection, where maintaining microbial activity under field conditions can be as important as initial efficacy.
During product development, Macan remained biologically active on the leaf surface for at least 14 days after application, according to Thiago Castro, R&D Manager, Brazil. The bacteria remained viable during this period and continued colonising the leaf surface, supporting sustained disease-control activity.
The company also reported consistent performance under practical field conditions, including situations where rainfall occurred soon after application. Rainfastness is a critical consideration for commercial biological products because weather conditions can determine whether a treatment remains effective after spraying. Operational compatibility is another part of Macan’s positioning. The formulation has been designed to remain stable across a range of spray pressures and water pH conditions and has demonstrated compatibility with a number of commonly used crop protection products.
That could make adoption easier for growers already operating complex spray programmes. Rather than requiring a separate biological production or application system, a product that can be incorporated into existing programmes potentially reduces the operational barriers associated with adding biological inputs. Martin Koppert, Chief Product Officer at Koppert, said Macan combines scientific development, field performance and operational flexibility in a biological disease-control product designed around growers’ existing crop protection practices.
The Brazilian launch also gives Koppert access to one of the world’s largest commercial markets for soybean, corn and sugarcane, where disease management is a major component of crop production economics. Macan is currently registered in Brazil for 13 disease targets, giving the product a relatively broad positioning within disease-management programmes. Koppert said additional label expansions are under development.
The breadth of the registration is commercially relevant because biological products have increasingly moved from niche applications towards integrated crop protection systems. Products capable of addressing multiple disease targets can potentially become more valuable components of a grower’s broader programme. For Koppert, Macan also represents the commercialisation of a long-term biological research programme rather than a single-product launch. The company’s strategy increasingly centres on combining microbial technologies, formulation science and field performance to expand the role of biological crop protection.
Guido Roozemond, Global Category Lead Bio-fungicides at Koppert, said the launch reflects the company’s focus on biological solutions that combine performance, reliability and ease of use. The bigger commercial question will be how effectively Macan can establish itself within Brazil’s highly competitive crop protection market. Biological fungicides must demonstrate not only biological activity but also consistency, compatibility with existing programmes, economic value and ease of adoption at commercial scale.
With Macan now entering the Brazilian market, Koppert is effectively putting more than a decade of biological research into a large-scale field test—one where sustained performance and integration with farmers’ existing spray programmes will determine how far the technology can travel.
