JERUSALEM, Israel -- Yissum Research Development Company, the technology transfer arm of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has signed two research and development agreements with Makhteshim Agan Industries (MAI) to develop and commercialize environmentally-friendly crop protection technologies, reports Business Wire.

The first collaboration is for the development and commercialization of a unique methodology for the slow and controlled release of herbicides, minimizing herbicide contamination of soil and water. The new approach incorporates herbicides into micelles or vesicles, which are then absorbed onto negatively-charged clay minerals. The slow, controlled release reduces leaching to deeper soil layers, lessening soil and water contamination.

The second collaboration is for a new insecticidal preparation, which combines a proprietary Chitin Synthesis Inhibitor (CSI) and a pathogenic fungus that kills caterpillars of night-flying moths. The CSI disrupts the production of the insects' external shield so that the pathogenic fungus can attack the weakened caterpillars.