Syngenta Australia launches new cotton seed treatment VIBRANCE CST™

The resilience of Australia’s cotton growers was on display on the Gold Coast in August for the industry’s biggest social event of the year.

More than 2300 delegates attended the 2018 Australian Cotton Conference, August 7 to 9, where Syngenta unveiled VIBRANCE CST™, a new generation Seedcare formula, developed under the FastStart™ R&D initiative.

“The trade show area buzzed with excitement, where growers, consultants and other industry types mingled and caught up over the duration of the conference,” said Andrew Dayas, Syngenta Territory Sales Manager – Northern.
“It was great opportunity for some to leave their drought concerns at home for a few days and kick their heels up catching up with old mates.”
 
Syngenta has lodged an application for registration of VIBRANCE CST with the Australian Pesticidees and Veterinary Medicines Authority, taking the opportunity to talk about trial results at the conference.

In NSW and Queensland trials there was a 27% increase in plant stand compared to untreated seed and a 4% increase compared to DYNASTY CST.

Formulated with sedaxane, VIBRANCE CST delivering enhanced Rhizoctonia control, further improving seedling survival. Metalaxyl-M loading has been doubled to enhance the control of Pythium.

All eyes were on Syngenta Field Development Manager Ken McKee who delivered the launch address on the Wednesday, where interest was already strong in the coating.

The VIBRANCE CST presentation was a conference highlight with Ken addressing a packed room, delivering a fantastic talk on seed treatments and the portfolio evolution since the development of Apron

The Syngenta team was also thrilled to see the conference organisers name local grower Brett Corish the Grower of the Year.

The Corish family starting farming cotton in the early 1980s in the Border Rivers region. Following dad, Peter, into the industry, Brett now runs ‘Mundine’ on the NSW side of the McIntyre River. An advocate for best management practise, Brett has been a frontrunner in the adoption of new technologies and is roundly considered a leader in integrated pest management and water use efficiency, to name a few.

“Brett’s no stranger to Syngenta. Only last year did Syngenta conduct a CST trial on his property and there was the NBA field walk earlier this year,” Andrew said.

“Brett leads from the front, as someone who encourages his employees to do well through leading by example, and being very hands on. It’s great to see Brett win this award for the large contributions to industry involvement and his easy going nature.”

Brett wasn’t the only winner at the conference, with Syngenta giving away a pair of RM Williams boots to Katie Ledingham from Alice Downs Farms, Moree, after she entered into the VIBRANCE CST Seed Guessing Competition.

Katie guessed 13,697 seeds – the nearest guess to the actual count of 13,651. The Syngenta team was eager to pass on its congratulations to Katie, and of course, the voucher to RM Williams.