New potato herbicide Quickdown unveiled

Newly registered herbicide and desiccation product, Quickdown, approved for use in potatoes will give growers a much needed additional solution for pre-emergence weed control this spring, Certis is announcing.

Quickdown, containing pyraflufen-ethyl, has recently received full registration for use at the pre-crop emergence stage as a herbicide effective against a range of broadleaved weeds, and also for use as a pre-harvest desiccant, says the company’s Dr Tudor Dawkins.

"Quickdown can be used on any soil type and any potato variety offering good flexibility," highlights Dr Dawkins, ’which given the limited options for pre-em weed control in potato crops offers a significant opportunity and valuable addition to the armoury when used at the label rate of 0.4l/ha,’ he believes.

Based on the active ingredient pyraflufen-ethyl (26.5g/l), which acts to disrupt the weeds photosynthetic pathways, the activity of Quickdown is optimised under bright and sunny conditions and warm temperatures. ’For this reason applications are best made in the early to middle part of the day,’ advises Dr Dawkins.

Quickdown’s contact mode of action enables particularly good activity against a wide spectrum of emerged broadleaved weeds including cleavers, groundsel, fat hen, field bind weed, field pansy, knotgrass, redshank, mayweed, shepherd’s purse and volunteer oilseed rape when present at time of applications.

"Quickdown has also been tested in tank mixture with a range of herbicides including metribuzin, pendimethalin, prosulfocarb and linuron,"comments Dr Dawkins, "offering growers greater flexibility."

Growers should note that applications should be made with the use an adjuvant, such as Toil (A0284) at 1l/ha.

"While the maximum individual dose for Quickdown as a potato herbicide, is 0.4l/ha, Quickdown can also be used again on the same crop, later in the season, as a desiccant before harvest providing the maximum total dose of 1.6l/ha is not exceeded," he explains. The maximum individual dose as a desiccant is0.8l/ha.