New Disease Control Tools For Fruit And Nut Growers

Apple scab is a big problem for growers in the Midwest and East. But, a new fungicide boasts efficacy against apple scab, powdery mildew, and summer diseases.

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Aprovia will be released by Syngenta and is pending EPA approval. Its active ingredient is Solatenol, and it is a SDHI fungicide. It will be labeled for pome fruit for control of apple scab, pear scab, powdery mildew, and summer diseases such as fly speck, sooty blotch, and cedar apple rust. It will also be labeled for powdery mildew, leaf spot, and rotting diseases in grapes.

While there are also three other SDHI fungicides on the market, George Sundin, a professor in the Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences Department at Michigan State University likes how this fungicide works.

“It seems to me to be the most active against apple scab of the four that are out there,” he says.

Sundin worked on efficacy trials of Aprovia as an independent evaluation of the product. “The timings are between pink through bloom for both scab and powdery mildew,” he says.

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“We are also developing a premix product but at the request of several stakeholders, we decided to launch the solo product, [which] gives growers more options if they would like to alternate,” Allison Tally, a Syngenta technical product lead says. “As a solo mode of action, they can tank mix it with other products and have more flexibility in their spray program.”

Sundin recommends growers use a broad-spectrum fungicide with Aprovia as part of a resistance management program. For example, a 3-pound rate of Mancozeb tank mixed will help protect against resistance development. Growers should also spray Aprovia prior to infection events, using available disease modeling programs.

“We always like to do preventative sprays, but recognize growers can’t always get into the orchard because of rainy conditions,” Tally says.

Fungicide Updates
Here is a roundup of crop protection label updates and new releases

FMC — Rhyme fungicide is now labeled for powdery mildew and black rot control in grapes for California and Arizona. Rhyme is FRAC Group 3 and is a demethylation inhibitor fungicide with the active ingredient flutriafol. It is rainfast in two hours and can be tank-mixed with most fungicides, insecticides, or foliar nutrients.

Fracture fungicide is a broad-spectrum biological fungicide for control of powdery mildew and botrytis in grapes, strawberries, and tomatoes, as well as brown rot blossom blight in almonds. Its novel, patented active ingredient (Banda de Lupinus albus doce, or BLAD) is a polypeptide derived from germinating sweet lupine plants.

ADAMA – Captan Gold 4L is a broad-spectrum foliar fungicide in liquid formulation. It has been newly-approved for use in California for use on strawberries, tree fruits, and other specialty crops. Captan Gold 4L is a multi-site fungicide which protects crops by penetrating fungal spores of anthracnose, botrytis (gray mold), brown rot, and scab.

MasterCop fungicide/bactericide is a water-soluble low-rate copper solution for treatment of bacterial and fungal diseases. The EPA has recently allowed the maximum annual use rate of MasterCop to be increased on citrus, potatoes, strawberries, apples, peaches, beans, and carrots.

BRANDT – Zonix is a contact biofungicide for prevention and control of downy mildew, late blight, root rots, phytophthora and pythium. Zonix uses rhamnolipid technology for resistance management. It is OMRI listed and is labeled for use on fruits and vegetables. Zonix is manufactured by Proptera LLC. BRANDT will market and distribute Zonix to ag retailers throughout the U.S.

Willowood USA – The crop protection company has recently developed and registered Willowood Azoxy 2SC (which contains azoxystrobin, the same active ingredient as proprietary fungicides on the market). This product provides disease control in several key crops including a number of nuts and tree fruit and gives growers a disease control option.

DuPont – Fontelis fungicide is already labeled for control of Botrytis, powdery mildew, leaf spot, and leaf rust for small fruits. Use restrictions have been lifted for the control of scab in stone fruits, and powdery mildew and rust in almonds. Formulated with a single active ingredient for flexibility, Fontelis penetrates plant tissue quickly and delivers lasting protection with pre- and post-infection activity.

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