Transform aphicide from Dow AgroSciences has recently been registered for vegetable brassicas, leafy greens, curcubits and fruiting vegetables as well as potatoes and carrots.
 

This follows a successful launch to wheat and barley growers last season.

Combining superior aphid control and fast knockdown with an excellent IPM fit and extended control lasting up to 21 days, the new brand is a shot in the arm for sustainable pest control, according to Dow AgroSciences NZ marketing manager Nick Koch.

It features a novel active called Isoclast which took the company 10 years and $270 million of R&D to create 

Unlike other common insecticide groups, it is selective to key beneficial insects which naturally help control aphids, like lacewings, lady birds, beetles, hoverflies, earwigs and spiders.

That means growers are better able to break the aphid resistance cycle and achieve reliable disease control with fewer spray applications and without compromising IPM programmes.

Cereal producers have welcomed it as a high value tool in managing the risk of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus and vegetable growers are expected to follow suit.

Bernard Harris, the company’s NZ R&D manager, says potato leaf roller virus (PLRV) in potatoes will be a key market now that the label extensions have been approved, with particular interest pending from seed potato producers.

“Virus-free seed potatoes are produced under an insecticide regime for aphid vector control, which includes seed treatments and

foliar applications.

“Growers will be aware that intense overuse of insecticides can result in aphids becoming resistant to insecticides and therefore resistance management strategies such as rotating insecticides with different modes of action to prevent intergenerational resistance are vital. The addition of new chemistry such as Transform will help control aphid populations that are resistant to existing modes of action.”

Isoclast belongs to a unique insecticide group known as the ‘sulfoximines’ (IRAC group 4C) which do not have cross resistance to any other insecticide group, making Transform an ideal rotation partner for insecticides with alternate modes of action in resistance management programmes, he explains.

Nick Koch says Transform’s IPM fit makes it an exciting development for both cereal and vegetable growers alike.

“Integrated pest management (IPM) has been a buzz phrase used in the industry for many years although it hasn’t been widely

adopted. This has been largely due to the lack of selective chemistries available that are safe to key beneficial insects.

“Beneficial insects naturally help to keep the aphid populations under control but when old chemistries such as synthetic pyrethroids are used the beneficials die and it can take quite some time for numbers to return.

“It’s great to be able to walk into a field that has been treated with Transform to see the beneficial insects still working.”

When this feature is combined with systemic activity and an extended control period, plus a kinder user profile, Transform provides a very powerful package of benefits, Koch says.

Transform has been trialled in NZ conditions for several years, showing superior efficacy on aphids with very consistent results and minimal performance variability, Bernard Harris says.

For more detail contact your Dow Agro- Sciences territory manager