Disease Control Update

Keeping your trees and vines free of disease is a constant battle. In the second of a four-part series on crop protection, we look at new disease control products and label changes that took place in 2007. For more information on these products, go to the Web sites listed below the name of each company, or go to www.meisterpro.com.

BioSafe Systems

www.biosafesystems.com
• The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has approved OxiDate (hydrogen dioxide) bactericide/fungicide at a new lower dilution rate of 1:300 for preventative applications on agricultural crops. Lowering the dilution offers growers a significant savings in their operation costs, and this new cost-effective rate provides growers with a preventative option for eliminating a broad spectrum of plant pathogens such as alternaria, anthracnose, botrytis, phytophthora, pythium, sclerotinia, rhizoctonia, and fusarium. OxiDate is labeled for a wide variety of application methods including foliar spray, soil drench, food basin, and drip trickle, and it can be applied to more than 150 fruit, nut, and vegetable crops. OxiDate is listed for organic crop production, has a four hour re-entry interval, and can be sprayed right up to and including the day of harvest.

Dow AgroSciences

www.dowagro.com/usag
• Indar (fenbuconaxole) was registered by EPA for use on apples for control of apple scab, rusts, and powdery mildew, as well as summer diseases such as sooty blotch and flyspeck.

MANA Crop Protection

www.manainc.com
• Equus (chlorothalonil) received California registration for disease control in almonds, blueberries, and non-bearing strawberries.

Syngenta Crop Protection

www.syngentacropprotection-us.com
• Ridomil Gold SL (azoxystrobin) was approved by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation for use on a wide variety of crops including almonds, apples, stone fruit, strawberries, and walnuts. Ridomil Gold SL is an enhanced formula of Ridomil Gold EC that provides effective control of certain soil-borne and foliar diseases.

• Scholar SC (fludioxonil), a postharvest fungicide, was labeled for use in pome fruit and stone fruit. The new liquid formulation is easier to mix and measure and will stay in suspension longer. Scholar provides a unique mode of action to help manage fungicide resistance. State registrations are still pending in California and New York.

United Phosphorus Inc.

www.upi-usa.com
• Cuprofix Ultra 40 Disperss (copper sulfate) has received organic status with the USDA National Organics Program and is eligible for inclusion with the Organic Materials Review Institute. The product is used by fruit growers to control diseases such as bacterial spot, blossom blight, downy mildew, and shot hole.

• Firewall (streptomycin) is now on the USDA National Organics Program approved list, and is eligible for inclusion with the Organic Materials Review Institute. It controls fire blight in apples and pears and bacterial spot in peaches and nectarines.

• Microthial Disperss (micronized wettable sulfur) is now on the USDA National Organics Program approved list, and is eligible for inclusion with the Organic Materials Review Institute. The product controls diseases such as powdery mildew, scab, and leaf spot in grapes, apples, peaches, and tree nuts.  

Looking Ahead

While 2007 saw the addition of several new uses for disease control products, there are also a number of materials in pending status for 2008. Below is a sampling of some of the fungicides currently undergoing review, based on the IR-4 program’s most recent New Products/Transitional Solutions list (go to www.ir4.rutgers.edu for more information). The materials are broken down by registrant, with pest control spectrum in parentheses.

AgraQuest

• Arabesque (Muscador albus) for use on pome fruit, stone fruit, and strawberries (plant pathogens and bacteria)

Arysta LifeScience

• Elevate (fenhexamid) for use on apples (monilinia)

BASF

• Acrobat (dimethomorph) for use on grapes (downy mildew)
• Pristine (boscalid and pyraclostrobin) for postharvest use on pome fruit and stone fruit (anthracnose, alternaria, mildews, leaf spot)

Bayer CropScience

• Elite (tebuconazole) for use on pome fruit, stone fruit, and tree nuts (powdery mildew, rusts, apple scab)
• Flint (trifloxystrobin) for use on strawberries (powdery mildew)
• Reason (fenamidone) for use on grapes and strawberries (alternaria)
• Scala (pyrimethanil) for use on tree nuts, blueberries, and postharvest application on stone fruit (botrytis)

Dow AgroSciences

• Quintec (quinoxyfen) for use on peaches and plums (powdery mildew)

DuPont Crop Protection

• Curzate (cymoxanil) for use on grapes (downy mildew, phytophthora)
• Tanos (famoxadone) for use on grapes (downy mildew)

FMC

• Ranman (cyazofamid) for use on grapes (phytophthora)

Growth Products Ltd.

• Bacillus subtilis strain GB03 for use on apples, grapes, and strawberries.

Micro Flo

• Biocure (candida saitoana) for use on apples (postharvest disease control)

Syngenta Crop Protection

• Dividend (difenoconazole) for use on grapes (fusarium)
• Switch (cyprodinil and fludioxonil) for use on grapes (botrytis, powdery mildew)

Valent USA

• V-10118 for use on cherries, grapes, and pome fruit (powdery mildew)
• V-10135 for use on stone fruit and tree nuts (botrytis, sclerotinia)