Cereal seed treatment cleared for on-farm use, oats

A combo of three active ingredients for wireworm and disease control in wheat and barley has been cleared both for use on oats and use on the farm.

Syngenta Crop Protection Canada on Tuesday announced it has picked up approval from Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency to add oats to Cruiser Maxx Cereals' label -- and to remove the "closed system" requirement on the product for all small grain cereal crops.

The removal of the closed system requirement cuts out the need for a pump in extracting the product, which "will be of particular value to growers treating on-farm," said Paul Allen, seed care brand manager for Syngenta's Canadian office in Guelph, Ont.

Cruiser Maxx Cereals' new labelled rate for use on oats will be the same as for wheat and barley, at 325 millilitres per 100 kilograms of seed, the company said.

Cruiser Maxx Cereals was launched in late 2008, combining the wireworm insecticide Cruiser and the fungicide Dividend XL RTA, including active ingredients thiamethoxam, difenoconazole, and metalaxyl-m. The product works both through contact and by systemic activity.

As an insecticide, the product is registered for "early-season suppression" of wireworms.

As a preventive treatment, meanwhile, Cruiser Maxx Cereals is approved for control of seed rot caused by fusarium, pythium, penicillium and aspergillus; seedling blight caused by seed- and soil-borne fusarium; damping-off caused by pythium; loose smut; and covered smut. It's also registered for suppression of common root rot.

Syngenta already markets thiamethoxam insecticide under the Cruiser and Actara brands. Difenoconazole is an active ingredient in Dividend -- as is metalaxyl-m, which itself is an active ingredient in Syngenta products such as Apron, Helix and Ridomil.