Strob cereal fungicides ready for battle
Strob cereal fungicides ready for battle
BATTLE is set to be joined between two new second-generation strobilurin cereal fungicides announced at the British Crop Protection Conference in Brighton earlier this week.
Curative activity from both products puts them in a new class, offering strob-benefits plus kick-back disease control. A yield boost over existing protectant-only strobilurins is expected, plus greater flexibility with triazole partners and application timing.
Picoxystrobin from Zeneca is said to be unique among broad-spectrum cereal fungicides in combining movement within the plants xylem system and vapour activity. That ensures optimum distribution within the plant and a wide spectrum of control.
Yield benefits from picoxystrobin used alone were comparable with those from kresoxim-methyl + epoxiconazole (Landmark) in wheat and ahead in barley. Specific weight also benefited. Main strengths are the Septorias, brown rust and strob-sensitive mildew in wheat and net blotch, rhynchosporium and mildew in barley.
F-500, from BASF, offers protectant, curative, translaminar and locosystemic control of cereal diseases, giving a broad and flexible application window.
Based on pyraclostrobin, it is strong on Septorias and rusts in wheat and rhynchosporium in barley, giving good season-long control from early treatment. Blight control in potatoes outperforms chlorothalonil and bean diseases are also well controlled. F-500 will be available as a straight product and a range of formulated mixes, with commercial launch expected in time for spring 2002, says BASF. *
WHATS NEW – INSECTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES ANNOUNCED AT THE BCPC CONFERENCE
Insecticides
• Thiacloprid Sister chemical to sugar beet and cereal insecticide imidacloprid (Gaucho/Secur), offering enhanced control of aphids and whiteflies in potatoes, vegetables and pome fruit. The Bayer material is an acute contact and stomach poison with systemic properties and no cross-resistance to conventional insecticides. Environmental profile is good and bee safety allows spraying during flowering.
• IKI-220 Novel selective systemic aphicide for use in cereals, potatoes, fruit and vegetables being developed by ISK Biosciences. Rapidly inhibits aphid feeding and gives long-lasting control, with no cross-resistance to existing insecticides.
• Spirodiclofen Novel Bayer acaricide from new chemical class of tetronic acids, shows good control of mite pests in pome and stone fruits, with no cross-resistance to existing insecticides.
• Spinosad Biological insecticide for controlling lepidopteran pests including winter moth and summer fruit tortrix moth in apples and pears. Derived as a fermentation product from Saccharopolyspora spinosa fungus by Dow AgroSciences.
• Bacillus firmus Two bionematicides extracted from bacterium by Israeli firm Minarev Infrastructures have given comparable or better control of root-knot nematodes in cucumbers and tomatoes than cadusafos (Rugby). Use after dazomet (Basamid) was as effective as methyl bromide.
Fungicides
• Picoxystrobin New curative strobilurin from Zeneca (see story).
• F-500/pyraclostrobin New curative strobilurin from BASF (see story).
• SYP-L190 Blight fungicide being developed in China, highly effective against metalaxyl-sensitive and resistant isolates, offering good control of phenylamide-resistant populations.
• Simeconazole (F-155) Novel systemic triazole with broad-spectrum activity. Slow-release seed treatment controls wheat loose smut and soil and air-borne diseases, such as sharp eyespot, eyespot and powdery mildew, giving 10% yield boost over untreated crops.
• Brevibacillus brevis Bacterium showing promise as biological control agent for diseases in greenhouse crops.