Pitch the product right to gain growers’ confidence
When a new fungicide is launched, the manufacturer usually claims superior disease control and yields.
And then puts a premium on the price.
But Syngenta’s new offering, Cherokee, isn’t following the usual pattern.
The key to whether it will be successful in the marketplace is convincing farmers and advisers that it performs to a similar level as the existing standards, particularly at T1, and making sure it is priced to encourage farmers to switch, the firm’s Matt Pickard says.
Syngenta is confident it has a product that will meet both criteria.
That might surprise some growers considering Cherokee which contains a combination of chlorothalonil with two older triazole fungicides cyproconazole and propiconazole that are considered in the second, or even third, tier of triazole fungicides.
But at the full label rate of 1.5 litres/ha Cherokee applies 75g/litre of cyproconazole (nearly a full dose) plus 94g/litre of propiconazole (three-quarter dose) as well as the equivalent of a litre of Bravo.
“It delivers the high triazole dose you need because of the shifts in septoria sensitivity to triazole fungicides, along with an anti-resistance component, and a good protectant in chlorothalonil,” Syngenta technical manager David Ranner says
| Cherokee facts |
|
