US EPA registers BASF's Teraxxa seed treatment

BASF is arming cereal growers with a powerful new seed treatment to combat wireworms. Teraxxa^TM seed treatment will offer growers what no other currently registered treatment can: wireworm mortality. This new product was recently registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and will be available for the 2021 growing season.

The Challenge

Wireworm larvae in different life stages are active in wheat fields as they progress into a pupae and adult click beetles. Wireworm populations expand exponentially: over the course of three years two adult click beetles can grow to more than 200 adults and 1,000 wireworms. This type of pest population pressure can wreak havoc on a young wheat crop. In fact, growers can face a loss of more than 50 percent of seedlings, and those that survive may be stunted, further reducing yield in a field already taking a big hit.

“The insecticide seed treatment options on the market today have only been able to temporarily stun the wireworms,” said Rebecca Noble, Product Manager, Seed Treatments, BASF Agricultural Solutions. “Teraxxa’s game-changing active ingredient delivers direct wireworm mortality, reducing the population and its potential to cause feeding damage later in the season, and providing a path for long-term wireworm control. Other insecticides repel wireworms temporarily; Teraxxa eliminates them.”

The Solution

Broflanilide, the active ingredient in Teraxxa seed treatment, is a new class of chemistry: Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC) Mode of Action Group 30. This innovation delivers a new mode of action to protect against wireworms. Broflanilide binds to the wireworm’s central nervous system causing hyperactivity of nerves and muscles, which ultimately eliminates the pest altogether. Trials show it to be highly effective with rapid wireworm mortality on contact across all species and life stages, with field studies showing 80 to 90 percent reduction in wireworms.

Teraxxa seed treatment will commonly be sold as Teraxxa F4 seed treatment, combining the wireworm stopping power of Teraxxa insecticide with four fungicides for broad-spectrum disease control in a pre-mixture formulation. The four fungicide modes of action provide the following benefits:

- Protection against diseases, such as Fusarium root rot and seedling blight, Pythium damping off, Rhizoctonia root rot and common root rot.

- Cold tolerance, rapid emergence and highly systemic disease protection against key seedling diseases.

- Unique systemicity of Xemium^® fungicide provides longer and more complete disease protection.

Teraxxa and Teraxxa F4 are the latest additions to BASF’s robust seed treatment and crop protection portfolio offering wheat growers superior protection against insects and diseases.