Dow to launch new-mode cereal fungicide in next five years

Dow AgroSciences expects to launch a cereal fungicide with a new mode of action within the next five years. The group, which has a strong portfolio of herbicides and insecticides, is hoping the new product will spearhead its growth in the fungicide area.

 

Fungicide resistance is becoming an increasing problem with some product groups losing their efficacy and some ingredients facing tougher rules or outright bans, so a product with a new mode of action would be welcomed by growers and agronomists.

Ian Corr, group fungicide and insecticide product manager in the UK, said the new fungicide will target major crops in Europe, such as cereals.
 

“We are very upbeat, it ticks all the boxes for us and the product looks very positive,” he told Farmers Weekly.
 

The product will have a different mode of action to those fungicides types used in the UK such as azoles, SDHIs, strobilurins and protectant products such as chlorothalonil.
 

However, he cautions the new product will have to be used with other types of products in an integrated approach, and growers should stay alert to the threat of resistance.
 

“It’s not an answer to resistance, it’s another tool for the grower,” he adds.
 

The group currently markets an early-season cereal fungicide, Ceando, under a licence deal with BASF, which is a mix of the azole epoxiconazole and metrafenone, and Dow hopes its new product will give a major boost to its fungicide portfolio.
 

The USA-based group is looking to introduce one new pesticide molecule worldwide each year into pre-development work, which then should be launched into the market.
 

In the UK, the group is aiming to launch seven new products next year over a range of different crops and uses.