University of Idaho soil biochemist Matt Morra knows he has a winning product. It's already in use elsewhere in the world, and he's seen the benefits first hand. The problem is that hundreds of thousands of dollars will be needed for the product to reach its full potential.

The product in Morra's case is mustard and canola meals. His chemical analysis helps to reveal how they can fight pests from nematodes to weeds. Field trials by university researchers and producers have begun to show when and where it works best.

The next step, Morra told members of the Idaho Canola and Rapeseed Commission in December, is to conduct the rigorous testing needed to gain U.S. Environmental Protection Agency registration as a biopesticide. The registration could open valuable agricultural markets for row crop and nursery markets.

Another University of Idaho researcher, microbiologist Don Crawford, discovered a specific bacterium that acted as a biopesticide. Texas-based Natural Industries believed in Crawford's product enough to invest nearly a decade and more than $500,000 in winning EPA registration.

The move succeeded in opening agricultural markets to the company's formulation of Crawford's discovery.

Similarly, adding value to mustard and canola meal could dramatically transform Idaho's oilseed industry, Morra and other researchers believe.

With a ban looming on the synthetic soil fumigant methyl bromide, mustard meal could fill the gap and become the most valuable commodity from the crop. With that shift, the seed oil would become an inexpensive byproduct, but a valuable asset in producing competitively-priced biodiesel.


Contact Morra at mmorra@uidaho.edu.