Soybeans infested with root knot nematodes.

Monsanto Company announced today that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued registration for tioxazafen, a nematicide branded as NemaStrike Technology. This approval will make the product available to farmers in 2018, pending state approvals.

NemaStrike will be offered as part of Acceleron Seed Applied Solutions, provides “a novel mode of action that stays in the root zone where nematodes attack,” according to a Monsanto press release. It provides “broad-spectrum control of plant parasitic nematodes and consistent yield protection performance in corn, soybeans and cotton.”

Nematode damage is often mistaken as other issues in the field, so growers do not always recognize they have a problem. However, EPA has stated that plant parasitic nematodes cause an estimated 14% loss in agriculture production worldwide, with $80 billion to $100 billion worth of crop losses every year globally, the release noted.

Over the last three years in Monsanto field trials, NemaStrike provided a yield protection performance advantage over the competitive standard of 7 bushels per acre with a 73% positive response rate in corn, 3 bushels per acre with a 68 percent positive response rate in soybeans, and 80 pounds of lint per acre with an 86 percent positive response rate in cotton. “Rresults varied based on nematode pressure in each field),” the release specified.