New Research Shows Performance Growth Potential in Ampersand Adjuvant

Posted by Growing Produce Staff|February 5, 2024

Attune Agriculture, a leader in developing performance based agricultural products using hydrocolloid technology, shared new research for its Ampersand adjuvant showing significant performance increases when paired with soil applied insecticide and fungicide. This expands the functionality of Ampersand, which was previously recommended for foliar applications.

The soil insecticide trial, conducted at RD4AG in Yuma, AZ, evaluated Safari insecticide on silverleaf whitefly and melons. Safari alone provided less than 20% reduction in nymphs compared to the untreated control. A low use rate of 0.0625% of Ampersand provided over 60% control and a high use rate of 0.5% provided 75% control. The addition of Ampersand as a tank mix partner increased whitefly control as much as 300% compared to the standard alone.

The soil fungicide trial, conducted at Crop Inspection Services in Valley Center, CA, evaluated Segway O fungicide on Phytophthora and peppers using a disease severity scale (0 to 10, with 0 being no impact and 10 being 100% plant mortality). Forty-two days after treatment, the untreated had a severity rating of 9.8 whereas Segway O alone had a rating of 5.3, a 45.9% reduction in disease severity. The addition of Ampersand at 0.25% had a rating of 1.6 or an 83.7% reduction in disease severity. In a commercial setting, the grower would have likely made a second application after 2 to 3 weeks if using Segway O alone and not had to make an additional fungicide application if they added Ampersand.

Ampersand adjuvant works in soil applications by keeping the application in the root zone longer compared to the active and water alone. This allows actives more time for absorption into the plant.

“Many thanks to our growers who observed more effective control and higher yields when pairing Ampersand with soil applied pesticides,” says Ed Quattlebaum, Ph.D., Director of Product Development at Attune Agriculture. “Their anecdotal feedback led us to test this functionality with third-party research trials. The increase in efficacy was unexpected and massive.”