AgroPages-US approved Valent’s Elumin™ Fungicide for Downy Mildew in Cucurbits-Agricultural news

US approved Valent’s Elumin™ Fungicide for Downy Mildew in Cucurbits

Valent U.S.A. LLC announced that Elumin™ Fungicide (Ethaboxam) has been federally registered for controlling downy mildew in cucurbits. A new oomycete fungicide tool, Elumin adds effectiveness to rotational foliar fungicide spray programs, so that growers can maximize crop quality and marketable yield.

Elumin stops disease spread by preventing spores from being produced. In addition to providing excellent disease protection and residual foliar control through locally systemic activity, Elumin is also highly translaminar, meaning it penetrates the leaf tissue to protect the upper and difficult-to-cover lower surfaces.

Kenny Seebold, product development manager at Valent, said downy mildew is a tough-to-control disease that can devastate cucumbers and other cucurbit crops. The downy mildew pathogen can rapidly develop resistance to a fungicide if strict resistance management and product stewardship is not practiced. Elumin delivers optimal disease control when used preventively in a rotational program with other oomycete fungicides.

"Current grower control strategies for downy mildew include applying multiple fungicide applications throughout the crop cycle, planting resistant varieties and rotating crops," Seebold said. "Elumin is a new and effective fungicide for growers to use in their rotation program for foliar and soilborne disease control."

Elumin is labeled for downy mildew and Phytophthora blight/crown rot control in cucurbits and Phytophthora blight control in peppers. Elumin contains a novel and proprietary active ingredient developed by Valent with proven efficacy on oomycete diseases.

In 21 research trials conducted in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Michigan between 2012 and 2015, programs that included Elumin in the rotation delivered excellent control of cucurbit downy mildew. These results demonstrated Elumin to be a strong fit in a rotational program designed to provide season-long control of the disease and to manage fungicide resistance potential.

Elumin, a FRAC 22 fungicide, joins a growing fungicide product line from Valent. Additionally, Elumin can be rotated successfully with other downy mildew fungicides.