Crop Protection
Syngenta, a global crop protection company, is offering Cruiser Maxx D Potato, a new liquid potato seed piece treatment aimed at enhancing potato production.
Cruiser Maxx D Potato combines three chemistries in one liquid application. Fludioxonil and difenoconazole control Fusarium, including resistant biotypes, seed-borne Rhizoctonia and silver scurf. A third chemical—thiamethoxam—stops early-season insects for up to 100 days.
“Syngenta continues to advance its seed care technology for potato growers. With Cruiser Maxx D Potato, growers benefit from an enhanced liquid seed care formulation, offering excellent coverage for disease and insect control,” says Mitch Reid, seed care asset lead with Syngenta Canada. “Additionally, because this seed treatment incorporates multiple modes of action, managing Fusarium resistance is made easier and more effective.”
Cruiser Maxx D Potato also controls silver scurf and seed-borne Rhizoctonia, two other diseases that are potentially devastating to potato plants. The seed treatment also has flexible application rates to allow growers to adjust to their needs. While some growers prefer to have some Rhizoctonia to promote tuber sizing, others—particularly in the seed and fresh markets—need to manage the disease for yield and quality. Syngenta says using Cruiser Maxx D Potato seed treatment and Quadris fungicide in-furrow provides effective control of seed- and soil-borne disease, respectively.
The use of an enclosed liquid applicator, such as a Milestone liquid seed treater, is the preferred technology for applying Cruiser Maxx D Potato. According to Syngenta, the Milestone’s two-phase application and gently rotating drum provide an improved closed environment for treating potatoes and delivers optimal seed coverage when compared with other treatment methods.
Visit syngentafarm.ca for more information.
Insecticide
Dow AgroSciences’s Delegate WG delivers fast-acting control of Colorado potato beetle, European corn borer and many other chewing pests in potato crops.
Dow’s Delegate WG is a Group 5 spinetoram insecticide, formulated as a wettable granule. According to the company, it has the lowest environmental impact on beneficial, predatory insects such as lacewings and ladybird beetles and is non-toxic to bees once the spray residue has been dry for three hours.
“Because it has such a low impact on most beneficial insects, Delegate is an excellent fit with integrated pest management programs,” says Jerry Olechowski, horticulture portfolio manager with Dow AgroSciences.
Spinetoram insecticide is derived from a fermentation process, followed by a secondary chemical modification to create a unique active ingredient. Because of it natural origin, Delegate is classified as a reduced risk pesticide by the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency. After dozens of field trials in key crops since 2004, Delegate has been found to have very low impact on populations of beneficials, including big-eyed bugs, damsel bugs, ladybugs and lacewings.
“Delegate controls insects in two ways—by contact and ingestion—which provides quick knockdown and residual control,” explains Olechowski. “No other class of products—organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids and neonicitinoids—affects the insect nervous system with the same mode of action as Delegate. It’s an ideal rotational product.”
For more information, visit dow.com/canada.
Rhizoctonia Control
If you asked potato growers to draw up a wish list for crop protection, a more effective solution for early blight and Rhizoctonia would be near the top. A definitive control option has proved elusive, but DuPont says it has the answer—a new fungicide called Vertisan registered in 2012.
Vertisan is an advanced fungicide powered by a next-generation SDHI mode of action,” says Ray Janssen, product manager with DuPont Crop Protection. “This fungicide binds tightly with the site of action on the fungicide molecule, stopping disease in its tracks. Applied in-furrow, it provides superior protection for young potato plants against Rhizoctonia. When used for foliar application, Vertisan manages early blight and grey mould too.”
[Vertisan] provides superior protection for young potato plants against Rhizoctonia.
– Ray Janssen
As Janssen explains, when Vertisan is applied in-furrow, it creates a zone of protection against Rhizoctonia, protecting the seed potatoes and emerging plant tissue by inhibiting the pathogens in the soil. Its locally systemic movement also protects roots, stolons and foliar tissue as the plant grows. This helps with early crop establishment, which provides the opportunity for improved yield at harvest.
As a Group 7 SDHI fungicide, Vertisan is also a valuable tool for resistance management. DuPont says the fungicide’s optimized product formulation makes for superior crop safety, abundant tank-mix compatibility and excellent rainfastness.
To learn more about Vertisan, visit dupont.com.
Late Blight Control
Engage Agro, the Guelph, Ont., firm specializing in niche market crop protection products, offers Torrent 400SC for the prevention of diseases caused by oomycete fungi in all varieties of potatoes. Unlike other fungicides, Torrent 400SC effectively controls late blight at all stages of the life cycle. Torrent 400SC’s mode of action kills oomycetes fungi by respiration inhibition in the mitochondria.
According to Engage Agro, the benefits of using Torrent 400SC include the following:
• contact fungicide with anti-sporulating effects and some systemic activity, for enhanced crop protection and yields;
• low use rates, resulting in fewer containers to handle;
• FRAC Group 21—an excellent partner for IPM resistance management of late blight;
• exceptional rain fastness and long residual control due to Torrent’s affinity to the waxy surfaces of potato leaves; and
• great disease control right up to harvest with a PHI of seven days and a short REI of 12 hours.
For best results, begin foliar applications when warning systems are forecasting disease infection periods—generally at row closure or when conditions are favourable for disease development, but prior to the appearance of the disease. For late blight control, the recommended usage is 0.1–0.2 litres in 200 to 600 litres of water per hectare on a seven- day schedule. Applications should include Sylgard 309 or non-ionic surfactant.
Additional information is available at engageagro.com. Growers can also talk with their agronomist or crop protection supplier for more details on how to use Torrent 400SC.
For more information on the products listed or to submit new E&T product offerings, email Mark Halsall at [email protected]
