AgroPages-Spain approved fungicide Scholar® for citrus post-harvest-Agricultural news

The DG of Health of the Agricultural Production of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment authorised the marketing and use of the product Scholar® (fludioxonil) for the citrus post-harvest. Bravatia® (propiconazole) was authorised in 2013 as an alternative to tackle the rot caused by Geotrichum candidum.

The citrus sector already has access to the best solution, with alternative active ingredients to those of traditional fungicides, to combat the major post-harvest diseases: Penicillium spp. and Geotrichum candidum, two fungi that cause considerable losses.

The joint use of Scholar® and Bravatia® ensures the control of post-harvest diseases in citrus during a single campaign with only 2 active materials.

Scholar® has been used all over the world to tackle serious problems in the storage of pears, apples, peaches, flat peaches, nectarines or cherries. It has also provided solutions for kiwis and great hopes for other fruits, like pomegranates. Scholar® extends the shelf life of fruit in cold storage and along the value chain until it reaches the consumer.

Now the citrus fruits sector is in luck: Scholar® has been authorised for use and marketing in Spain's citrus post-harvest, with the end result in terms of residues being accepted by almost everyone, including the United States, the countries of the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Australia and South Africa and the CODEX, being highly effective in the prevention of post-harvest diseases in citrus caused by Penicillium spp., Botrytis spp., Rhizopus spp., Colletotrichum spp, etc.

Scholar®, the new product based on fludioxonil (broad spectrum fungicide belonging to the family of phenylpyrroles) is considered by the FRAC (Fungicide Resistance Action Committee) as little likely to generate resistance in fungal strains; it is low risk (classified by EPA (U.S.) as a fungicide of low toxicity and has no acute reference dose (ARfD), while having the advantage of being very stable and therefore persistent during the entire commercial life of citrus fruits.

The inclusion of this new active ingredient in treatment protocols is essential for the establishment of proper resistance management programs, as due to belonging to a chemical family never used in post-harvest, it causes no cross-resistance with benzimidazoles, dicarboximides or triazoles.

The other product that forms this perfect tandem for the treatment of post-harvest citrus is Bravatia®, the only authorised fungicide with very high efficiency in the control of Geotrichum candidum and Penicillium spp., based on propiconazole (belonging to the triazole family), with residues accepted in the European Union, the United States, Canada, Switzerland and the CODEX, among others.

The tests were conducted in mandarins, oranges, lemons and grapefruit and helped corroborate the treatment's adequacy in all varieties tested while handling all cross-resistances. In fact, the test results revealed the efficiency of the artificial inoculation to be as high as 90%, depending on the mode of application, which reveals the synergistic action between both products and confirms that their use protects citrus fruits from the main post-harvest fungal diseases; an efficiency which is always greater in industrial applications due to lower incidences of diseases.

The treatment's application by drenching shower and immersion, with 690 ppm of Scholar® and 600 ppm of Bravatia®, reduced Penicillium spp. and Geotrichum candidum infections in artificial inoculation by 90%, while in commercial conditions, infections during storage are reduced by more than 95%.

The application by spraying, mixed with water or wax, at a concentration of 2,880 ppm of Scholar® and 1,200 ppm of Bravatia®, reduces infections against all pathogens by more than 85% with artificial inoculations and by 95% under commercial storage conditions.

Thus, the results of the tests conducted by TECNIDEX guarantee that the combined treatment of citrus fruits with these two products will allow the citrus sector to better tackle the impact of major fungal post-harvest diseases, while preventing resistances between fungicides, thus making it possible to supply healthy, quality fruit to the markets, both domestic and international.