Sustainable Agriculture Partnership

EcoPhage and Dole Food Company Partner to Combat Banana Moko Disease

Deploying Phage-Based Biopesticides for Resilient Tropical Fruit Production

What is the significance of the EcoPhage and Dole Food Company agreement?
EcoPhage and Dole Food Company have signed a pre-commercialization agreement to evaluate sustainable phage-based biopesticides. This partnership focuses on controlling Moko disease, a destructive bacterial pathogen (Ralstonia solanacearum) that significantly reduces banana yields and quality across Central and Latin America.

How does EcoPhage’s technology address the Moko threat?
EcoPhage utilizes a proprietary platform to develop non-GMO, naturally occurring bacteriophage cocktails, also known as “bacteria eaters.” These rationally designed “super-phage” cocktails target and eradicate specific harmful bacteria without the resistance issues or regulatory limitations often found with conventional chemical bactericides.

How does this partnership align with Dole’s global sustainability goals?
The collaboration integrates EcoPhage’s innovation with Dole’s applied research expertise in Costa Rica. By moving toward phage-based solutions, Dole reinforces its commitment to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and sustainable production, aiming to provide healthy products grown with minimal environmental impact.

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EcoPhage, a leader in development and commercialization of sustainable phage-based (aka “bacteria eaters”) biopesticides for bacterial plant diseases has signed an evaluation and pre-commercialization agreement with Dole Fresh Fruit International, a subsidiary of Dole Food Company (NYSE: DOLE), to apply the Company technology for the control of bacterial plant diseases in Banana.

Moko is a recurring and destructive bacterial disease which is a threat to banana production and requires strict biosecurity protocols and efficient crop protection strategies to prevent spread. The Moko disease (Ralstonia solanacearum) in banana is considered one of the main causes of yield loss, reduction of production and quality damage for farmers in Central and Latin America. To date, very few solutions exist due to the complexity of the disease, resistance issues and regulatory limitations.

EcoPhage has developed sustainable bactericide solutions for bacterial pathogens based on its research and development using a proprietary platform. Its solutions rely on rationally designed bacteriophage cocktails that target and eradicate harmful bacteria on crops. The company’s proprietary technological platform screens its enriched phage collection and then characterizes and selects the promising phage candidates to be used as a basis for highly effective and sustainable phage cocktails for antimicrobial crop protection. EcoPhage only uses non-GMO, naturally occurring phages. These undergo extensive screening, characterization, and selection processes to generate the most efficient “super-phage” cocktails to match the target bacteria.

“At Dole, crop protection strategies are grounded in integrated pest and disease management (IPM). We constantly look for innovative and increasingly sustainable approaches in our production”, said Dr. Miguel Munoz, Dole’s Research and Development Director in Costa Rica. “The tools developed by EcoPhage, for dealing with bacterial diseases, harbor great potential, and align perfectly with our commitment to provide healthy products, grown in a sustainable way.”

“It is a great privilege to engage with Dole on addressing the bacterial challenges in Banana,” Guy Elitzur, CEO of EcoPhage commented on the agreement. “Our R&D platform and the related bacteriophages-based crop protection products can provide solutions to the urgent unmet needs in the bactericide market in general, and specifically in tropical fruit.”

EcoPhage & Dole Food Company Collaboration

Sustainable Fruit Production | May 2026 | ecophage.com