Syngenta’s Quilt fungicide label expanded

Date:06-06-2012

Syngenta Canada Inc. is pleased to announce that two key diseases have been added to the Quilt® fungicide label: crown rust in oats and Mycosphaerella blight in field peas.

"The ability for growers to now use Quilt to control these two damaging diseases is a welcome option,” stated Eric Phillips, Asset Lead, Fungicides and Insecticides for Syngenta Canada Inc. “Additionally, since Quilt can be applied to a wide number of cereal and pulse crops, it is a very flexible fungicide for growers to have on their farm.”

Quilt is a broad-spectrum, preventative fungicide that boasts both systemic and curative properties due to its two active ingredients, azoxystrobin (Group 3) and propiconazole (Group 11).

The fungicide label expansion now includes control of crown rust which is caused by the fungus Puccinia coronata avenae. Crown rust reduces oat yields and causes thin kernels with low test weight, which can result in reduced milling quality. Loss due to this disease can reach 100 per cent if the infection is early, the variety is susceptible, and if the weather conditions are favourable for the development and spread of fungal spores.

Mycosphaerella blight (Mycosphaerella pinodes) in field peas is a disease that progresses from the bottom of the plant to the top, and is often most severe at the lower part of the canopy. When the disease takes hold, the stem lesions weaken the stem and contribute to lodging. In severe cases, these lesions girdle the plant, which causes premature senescence of the field pea plants.

Of note, the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) in oats for export to the United States have not yet been established. Syngenta Canada is working to have the MRLs established in the next year or so.