WHAT’S NEW
A new level of confidence in DMI chemistry There’s only one chance each year to produce a profitable crop, so it’s important that growers are equipped with the right tools to get it right. Belanty® Fungicide from BASF is an exciting advance in crop protection that gives excellent control against powdery mildew in grapes, black spot and powdery mildew in apples and black spot in pears.
Belanty sets a new benchmark for DMI (DeMethylation Inhibitor) chemistry and has been formulated specifically to meet today’s consumer and environmental expectations. This means New Zealand growers can have more confidence in producing top quality fruit that meets strict market specifications.
For grapes, two applications of Belanty at 80 mL/100 L water are recommended between early shoot extension and pre-bunch closure (the withholding period), as part of a complete disease control programme for powdery mildew. Belanty must be applied to grapes as a preventative disease spray programme.
Belanty has fast plant uptake, resulting in excellent rainfastness. Its active ingredient is slowly released into the leaf tissue, which gives longer residual activity. Importantly, the withholding periods for grapes, apples and pears are set so that growers can achieve nil detectable residues at harvest, enabling access into all export markets.
The same rate (80 mL/100L water) is used for black spot and powdery mildew control in apples and black spot in pears. Up to four applications (but no more than two consecutive applications) can be made between green-tip and 80% petal fall (the withholding period). All Belanty applications in apples and pears should be tank-mixed with an effective black spot fungicide from another mode-of-action group.
The active ingredient of Belanty, mefentrifluconazole, is the only DMI fungicide of its type with an isopropanol ‘neck’ which gives the molecule the ability to change its shape. This gives it flexibility to bind tightly to the site of action in the pathogens. This ability to change shape allows Belanty to control pathogen strains that have reduced sensitivity to traditional DMI fungicides.
As with any DMI fungicide, it is important to rotate fungicide groups to reduce selection for resistance in the disease pathogens, as recommended by the New Zealand Committee for Pesticide Resistance DMI Strategy. This season there are 10 more reasons for apple and grape growers to add Belanty fungicide to their crop rotation. By purchasing Belanty and three other BASF products between 1 August 2021 and 28 February 2022, you enter the draw to win one of 10 $3,000 travel vouchers! Terms and conditions apply. Visit: crop-solutions.basf.co.nz to find out more.
The ORCHARDIST : OCTOBER 2021 79
