Smart chemistry puts paid to caterpillars

Farmers sowing fodder or sugar beet crops this spring are being urged to keep watch for a soildwelling caterpillar pest that can quickly make a meal of newly emerged seedlings.

Greasy cutworm are the larvae of a moth called Agrotis ipsilon and live in the top few centimetres of the soil surface. They’re largely nocturnal feeders, so the first sign of damage is usually not the pest itself but its leftovers. For those who haven’t seen what they can do to brassica or beet seedlings, Nufarm Technical Specialist Cynthia Christie says the damage often looks like someone has cut the stem off at ground level with a sharp pair of scissors. “They also can completely eat newly emerged seedlings, leaving just the stalks. “At a passing glance it might seem as if seed has simply not yet germinated, so it’s important to scout newly planted crops carefully,” Cynthia says. Fodder beet and sugar beet are very vulnerable to cutworm early in the life of the crop because it has fewer plants per hectare and takes so much longer to establish than brassicas. (Brassica crops are also at risk. High cutworm pressure can wipe out large areas of brassica seedlings.) Cynthia reports that, unlike older organo-phosphate chemistry such as chlorpyrifos, the new synthetic pyrethroid (SP) insecticide Kaiso ® 50WG remains active on the soil for a longer period after application, thus providing a more robust control of cutworm. This means it can be sprayed at any time of the day and it does not have to be applied in evening when the caterpillars are thought to be most active. Kaiso ® 50WG contains the active ingredient lambda-cyhalothrin and is also registered for cutworm control in forage brassicas. Fast acting and persistent, it comes in a unique user-friendly Sorbie Technology formulation which is stable, easy to measure and non-flammable with no dust, no splash and easy clean up with no need for triple rinsing the container. “It looks and handles like a wettable granule (WG), but once added to water, it behaves like an emulsion concentrate (EC),” Cynthia explains. “It mixes to a stable solution very quickly.” The novel formulation also provides some other benefits that have proved popular with end-users. Approved Handler (AH) status is not required for purchase or transport of Kaiso ® 50WG, nor does the product have to be tracked. The recommended rate for Kaiso ® in fodder/sugar beet is 200g per ha, applied at the seedling stage when the first damage is noted. Evening applications are best — ensure spray covers the base of seedlings and surrounding soil.

For more information, contact your Farmlands Technical Field Officer or the friendly team at your local Farmlands store.

Kaiso is a registered trademark of Nufarm Limited. Article supplied by Nufarm. | Insecticides that remain active on the soil for a longer period after application provide a more robust control of cutworm.