Syngenta Australia - EQUENTO^® Extreme seed treatment ‘sets new protection benchmark’

A side-by-side comparison of canola hybrids and seed treatments on a farmer’s property at Strathalbyn, in South Australia, could not have been a better demonstration of effectiveness of Syngenta’s new seed treatment, EQUENTO^® Extreme, according to Nutrien agronomist Angus Slack.

Angus Slack, Agronomist from Nutrien Strathalbyn

Mr Slack said canola in the region faced a variety of pests during the establishment phase including red legged earth mites, millipedes, slaters and bronze field beetles. These key pests are on-label for EQUENTO^® Extreme, which will be widely available on 2025 certified seed purchases.

Mr Slack said chewing and sucking pests can quickly cause a lot of damage when active at seeding and seedling emergence.

″The stubble loads coming out of a cereal rotation provide a habitat for pest populations to build up before entering a canola phase. In this case, it was a bean stubble that had been grazed over summer, so I was a bit puzzled at first as to what was going on there as the stubble residue levels were very low at seeding time.″

The comparison of canola seed treatments in the paddock was made possible, as there were two different Pioneer canola hybrids supplied. 

″A new variety, PY421C treated with EQUENTO^® Extreme, was planted next to 44Y94CL that was treated with Poncho* Plus,″ Mr Slack said.

″EQUENTO^® Extreme caught my eye, due to the significant difference in plant density.″

Both canola hybrids were sown in May and the paddock also had applications of Pyrinex^® Super post sowing, pre-emergent and also post-emergent. 

″It was chalk and cheese between the two,″ he said.  

″The EQUENTO^® Extreme seed treatment provided excellent protection, under high pest pressure, reducing seedling mortality.″

Although these were two different canola varieties Mr Slack said the grower was impressed with how EQUENTO^® Extreme protected the canola seedlings during this vulnerable phase.

″It’s not until you try something new that you discover a new benchmark level of protection. There was a subterranean population of bronze field beetles in the paddock that were chewing on the main stem of the canola seedlings,″ he said. 

″The canola cotyledons appeared healthy, however, the hypocotyl had been ringbarked below the soil surface. The damage did not follow a specific pattern, but the impact was visible across the whole paddock.

Feeding damage to a canola seedling observed on the Strathalbyn farm.

The results of the new seed treatment were welcomed by the farmer.

″He's pretty excited by the increased level of protection offered by this new seed treatment, and very keen to use it next year.″

With increasing resistance to synthetic pyrethoids among red legged earth mites, the value of effective seed treatments is critical.

Mr Slack emphasised the importance of the establishment phase for canola crops to ensure it gets off to a good start.

He said canola in the area regularly achieved yields ″upwards of three tonnes per hectare″ with growers being keen to invest in each growth stage in order to ″maximise their return on investment″.

Footnote: EQUENTO^® Extreme is the combination of the registered products EQUENTO^® and CRUISER^® 600 FS

^® Registered trademark of a Syngenta Group company.

* Registered trademark.