New fungicides for 2014

Major multinational companies released several new fungicides in 2013, and have been seeking new uses for existing products.

Bayer CropScience launched two new products in 2013. One fungicide, Serenade CPB, leans on microbes to control disease.

Lipopeptides, which are molecules produced by bacteria, punch thousands of holes in the fungal cell membranes. This destroys the fungus. The fungicide also contains compounds that suppress specific bacteria, said Courtney Stephenson, Bayer marketing communications specialist.

Serenade will control sclerotinia stem rot in canola, and white mold and botrytis blight in dry beans, navy beans and pulses. One thousand litres of Serenade covers 625 acres.

Bayer also released Propulse in 2013, which controls white mold, ascochyta blight, and mycosphaerella blight in dry and edible beans. Active ingredients come from Group 7 and Group 3. To spray 40 acres, farmers will need one jug, which holds 5.1 litres.

DuPont released two fungicides, Acapela and Vertisan, on a wide scale in 2013. Todd Friday, market segment manager, said both fungicides have good coverage and redistribution properties.

Acapela is a Group 11 that suppresses disease in soybeans, corn, pulses, and cereals. A 9.6 litre jug will cover 50 acres of cereals and 40 acres of corn. Rates for pulses and soybeans swing from 27 acres to 40 acres per jug, depending on the disease.

Vertisan is a Group 7 meant to protect canola from sclerotinia. It’s also registered for application on sunflowers, chickpeas, lentils, field peas, and potatoes. A 10 litre jug doses 20 acres of canola, 14 acres of sunflowers, 15 acres of potatoes, and between 17 and 25 acres of pulses.

“Further on through the year, if you get a rainfall event, it’ll redistribute product throughout the plant,” said Friday. He said the fungicide is more active at the infection point as well.

Syngenta has a new tonic for soybeans. Allegro, a Group 29, was approved to control white mold in soybeans in July 2013. Farmers had previously used the product for late blight in potatoes and it’s registered for several horticultural crops as well.

Allegro works by shutting down energy production in the fungus mitochondria. It works against late blight, including spores. Farmers spraying soybeans should apply between 0.35 and 0.47 litres per acre.

BASF launched AgCelence fungicide in 2013, controls or suppresses several diseases in peas, lentils and chickpeas. It’s comprised of active ingredients from Group 11 and 7, giving it multiple modes of action.

With the same active ingredient found in Headline, it confers benefits such as green leaves, strong stems, and higher yield potential, states BASF’s website. Application rates range from 0.3 to 0.4 litres per hectare, depending on the crop and disease.

New for 2014

The Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency(PMRA) approved DuPont’s Acapela as a treatment for sclerotinia in canola in December 2013. Acapela has been registered for use in oilseeds in several European countries since 2010.

With the new label addition, farmers will be able to dose a wide range of crops with Acapela. “The grower will have the flexibility to go from one field to the next using Acapela and still get his disease control,” said Friday.

Acapela has good coverage and redistribution properties for canola, and “probably a longer window of control for sclerotinia than some of the other commercially available products right now,” Friday said.