Dow AgroScience touts Reldan 22 insecticide in grain storage

With the current high price of cereals and rape and the possibility of lower yields in areas suffering from drought, it is well worth making sure that this valuable grain is protected from any damage in store. To help insure against this, control measures should start up to one month before filling the store, through pre-harvest hygiene of the structure of the grain store with the broad-spectrum acaricide and insecticide, Reldan 22(chlorpyrifos-methyl).

"Mites, weevils and beetles are frequent problems in grain and grain stores and can be responsible for up to 10% of yield loss, which is worth a lot of money today. With the season that we have had, grain is a precious commodity and needs protecting from any losses in store," says John Sellars of Dow AgroSciences.

"Growers have a limited choice of insecticides that they can use to treat the fabric of the grain stores nowadays. The approval of Actellic (pirimiphos-methyl) for use as a structural treatment was revoked last year. Other products aren’t recommended on all cereals, such as milling wheat, and others don’t control mites, which are major and common pests in grain. But Reldan 22 is fully registered for use on the store structure and equipment as well as on stored grain, can be used in wheat, barley, oats, rye and triticale stores and it will control all major pests of stored grain, including mites, weevils, beetles and moths. It also is accepted by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) and the Brewing Research International (BRI) for use on cereals for malting and brewing. It has the full package when it comes to this type of treatment," says John.

"In addition to the direct losses due to feeding of mites and pests, grain quality can be adversely affected, with problems of reduced nutritional value, taint and contamination of insect fragments. Pest activity can also cause over heating in the grain pile, resulting in conditions conducive for the development of moulds," he explains

"You can get all sorts of different mites and insect pests in grain stores including common flour mite, cosmopolitan food mite, grain weevil, warehouse moth, saw-toothed grain beetle, red-rust flour beetle and merchant grain beetle, all of which are controlled by Reldan," says John.

"Empty grain stores need to be thoroughly cleaned and treated with Reldan 22. You need around one month lead time, so now is the time to get started. When the grain store is empty and up to one month before filling it again, it should be cleaned out of any old grain, dust and debris which may be harbouring insects. Any grain handling equipment including airways, ducts, intake pits and elevators will also need cleaning thoroughly."

"Then you can spray all the structural surfaces of the empty store and handling machinery, taking care to treat all cracks, crevices and joints. There are several options for application, by knapsack sprayer with fan spray nozzles, by motorised knapsack sprayer or tractor-operated spray lance. Reldan is applied as 200 ml in 5 litres of water per 100 square metres. Its application can help to reduce the risk of pests moving into stored grain."