MANA Launches New Technology

MANA, a company better known for taking exiting technology and revamping it, is launching into proprietary technology.

MANA is the North American subsidiary of Makhteshim Agan Industries, Ltd. Israel. The company ranks seventh among global agrochemical companies. In the U.S., it offers more than 60 branded insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and plant growth regulators.

"Historically, we might have been identified as a post patent company," says Mike Drinen, MANA Central Region business leader. "But with the introduction of several newly formulated insecticides, fungicides and herbicides—the market is soon to see a very different MANA."

MANA showcased some of its up and coming technology during a recent Herbicide Expo plot tour at the Southern Illinois University Belleville Research Center.

Fungicide preview

In the foliar fungicide market, MANA is preparing for its 2014 launch of Custodia. This multiple-mode of action fungicide can be used on corn, soybeans, wheat and several other crops. The registered product is already in field trials across the Midwest this summer.

"One gap we saw in the premier fungicide market was movement of product coverage," says Herb Young, MANA brand leader. "With Custodia, the application is absorbed quickly and moves all the way to the end of the leaf."

In research trials on corn, Young says that the product started moving day one and continued through day seven. And the fungicide says on the plant longer. He points out that Custodia lasted 150 hours on the leaf.

"Fungicides need to be absorbed quickly and move evenly throughout the plant," he says. "This product offers growers both."

Insecticide in action

One of the most telling displays on the MANA Herbicide Tour was a performance demonstration for Skyraider insecticide. Two mesh-enclosed containers hosted a soybean plant and healthy subsets of Japanese beetles. After one hour of active feeding by the beetles, one of the containers received a treatment of Skyraider.

In less than four hours, the plant without treatment was almost completely decimated with the beetles still feeding. While in the other container with the Skyraider treatment, the plant showed very few signs of feeding and all of the Japanese beetles were dead on the container bottom.

"This is a powerful insecticide in either a proactive or reactive program," says David Rummel, MANA brand leader. "It is a very telling display as to just how much damage Japanese beetles can do in such little time."

Skyraider delivers two modes of action using a pyrethroid and a neonicotinoid. This offers rapid knockdown of the pests, as well as, long-lasting residual protection. It is designed to control more than 140 insect and mite pest species across multiple crops. For soybeans, it controls aphids, bean leaf beetle, Japanese beetle and spider mites. Skyraider also delivers both translaminar and systemic movement.

Herbicide happenings

Another part of the tour focused on herbicides. In 2014, MANA will introduce Pummel ™, which can be used early pre-plant or pre-emergence for soybeans. Pummel has two different modes of action and is ideal for sedges. Plus it controls 22 grasses and 38 broadleaf weeds with 60 days of long-lasting residual activity. According to Drinen, this produce will help growers reduce reliance on glyphosate and PPO add-ons when and where resistance is a problem.

This product adds to the company's soybean weed control lineup that rolled out in 2013, which included Torment, Rumble, Tailwind, Vise and Outflank. Drinen says these herbicides offer improved weed control with an emphasis on glyphosate-, HPPD-, triazine- and ALS-resistant weed species.

"Today, MANA is well-equipped to leverage existing chemistries with the introduction of more advanced formulations as well as mixture concepts," says Dave Downing, MANA brand leader. "With formulation technology a top priority, growers can expect to see more products coming down the pipeline from proven active ingredients."