“Zidua delivers greater residual action” - Interview with Juan Martín Pérez Brea (Manager of Winter Cereals at BASF Argentina)

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

AgroPages exclusively interviewed Juan Martín Pérez Brea (Winter Cereals Manager at BASF Argentina), who explained the progress to the launch of the herbicide, Zidua, in the South American country, as well as the importance of applying pre-emerging herbicides and what the company is preparing for the coming months. 

What are the updates to the herbicide, Zidua^®?

We are very satisfied with the results of our campaigns. Zidua^® Pack is continuing to prove that it is a great tool for agricultural producers, delivering greater residual action and effective control of broad and narrow leaf weeds. Its field results are very positive and meet producers’ expectations.

On the other hand, in tests carried out in Argentina by BASF's technical team, together with major national institutions and universities, the advantages of Zidua^® Pack in multiple markets were also demonstrated, due to its physicochemical and selectivity characteristics. Crop tolerance was evaluated throughout Argentine in a wide variety of environmental conditions and different timings of application, including soil texture, temperature and soil moisture levels during and after application. In turn, it was found that the herbicide offers pre-emergent control of main grasses and pre and post-emergence control of major leaf weeds.

Since its first year of launch, it has delivered performance improvements of up to 500 kilos over other products.

What benefits and features does the product provide for corn and peanut producers?

Zidua^® Pack is a herbicide that is registered for use on soybeans, corn and peanuts, and we are working to incorporate more crops. Producer can benefit from its greater effectiveness in post-emergence control, since it is a product with the highest speed and control efficiency in the segment, and ensures 15 more days of persistence in the soil compared to other residual herbicides. In addition, it offers considerable versatility, due to its selectivity in major crops and a shorter application-sowing period in the segment, without restrictions to crop rotation and with less dependence on weather conditions.

From a technical point of view, Zidua^® Pack is presented as a pack that has two active ingredients. One ingredient is pyroxasulfone, which acts by inhibiting the growth of weeds during the germination process. It is absorbed primarily through the hypocotyl and coleoptile, as well as through the root of weed seedlings. This new active ingredient belongs to the isoxazoline family and is a new chemical class of herbicides. Its mode of action consists of the inhibition of very long chain fatty acids, representing a significant improvement, offering greater activity in the soil, achieving an additional 15 days of persistence compared to other residual herbicides, and ensuring a broad control spectrum. The other active ingredient is saflufenacil, a BASF product recognized for its high efficacy in the early post-emergence control of broadleaf weeds.

It is worth noting certain features of the product that are technically important for producers:

• Its selectivity enables us to apply the product very close to sowing and take advantage of its residual action on crops.

• Its prolonged action on weeds, which is 15 days of extra persistence in the soil compared to other residual herbicides, allows it to work on all energy pulses of weeds, so you can produce a crop that emerges uniformly and develops without interference. This is essential because, in terms of crops, selective tools that can be used for weed control are few and their control comes late, so the crops are already damaged.

• Compatibility is essential, since agricultural producers currently need to mix different products for weed control. This is why it is very important to have products that respond well to various mixtures. Zidua^® Pack was tested in over 120 tank mixes made by producers today, with excellent results in terms of both tank mix suspensibility and agronomic efficiency.

Why is it important to apply pre-emergent herbicides?

Working with pre-emergent herbicides is part of a strategy that must be adopted to control weeds during times of weakness, such as germination.

It is important to work in pre-emergence, because we are acting preventively, controlling various germination pulses, and allowing the initial development of crops to take place without competition. When we focus on one weed, the other expresses itself to its full potential, competing against the crop. That is why it is essential to use products such as Zidua^® Pack, which have a broad spectrum of weed control, greater persistence and higher speed of action.

What is the importance of managing invasive resistance?

Having a strategy in place to reduce resistance is critical. Every time a new resistance arises, we lose a tool for controlling that weed. For this reason, it is important to plan a pre and post-emergent control strategy, taking into account different modes of action and sites of action.

What other novelties are BASF preparing for the coming months?

Producers face new challenges year after year during every campaign. At BASF, we are always working to develop innovative solutions to these challenges, which is why we have planned new launches and the repositioning of technologies, to bring agricultural producers closer to the tools they need at every stage of their campaigns.

We will continue to invest in a strong and broad research and development (R&D) portfolio. In 2019, we invested almost €900 million in R&D in our Agriculture Solutions Division, or about €2.4 million per day, representing around 11% of the segment's sales. In 2020, we will continue these investments in R&D and, until 2029, we will launch more than 30 innovations with projected maximum sales of over €7.5 billion.

The offer is composed of many chemical and biological products for protecting crops, as well as seeds and digital solutions. We will also have new launches, such as xarvioTM and the Multiplica^® program. In addition, we launched a new technology, a supercomputer, which will enable BASF’s experts to more efficiently investigate complex issues and further shorten the time of launch of new products. It has about 10 times the computing power that BASF currently devotes to scientific computing. In order to continue meeting the growing demand for our innovative products in the future, we will also invest around €1,230 million in the development and expansion of our global infrastructure, as well as in our production and formulation capacity of active ingredients, between 2020 and 2024.