Less blight for potatoes and tomatoes
A new fungicide has recently been approved for use in New Zealand, subject to conditions.
Apex is a combination of two active ingredients; pyrimethanil and fluazinam. Both of these actives have a great track record of disease control in stand-alone forms but until now have not been formulated together into one convenient product. The pyrimethanil component is systemic, so is able to penetrate into the bunch and flower parts to stop Botrytis development at its source. Fluazinam is a contact protectant with multi-site activity.
One of the key benefits of this mixture is for disease resistance management. In recent years in New Zealand, we have started to see the effectiveness of some products diminish. This is due to an increased tolerance of the pathogen population to the active ingredients they have been exposed too. Pyrimethanil is from the anilinopyrimidine (AP) group of fungicides. AP fungicides have been documented overseas as becoming less effective against Botrytis with overuse. In order to maintain the longevity of this group of chemistry, the industry comply with some guidelines on its use. One of the key directives is that AP chemistry should always be used in conjunction with another effective fungicide. Since Apex also contains fluazinam as part of the formulation, it has a built-in and industry compliant resistance management solution in one product thus, eliminating the need for tank mixing.
Apex now also features in the updated version of the Zelam Grape Spray Calculator App, which was launched last year for the key Botrytis products including Nexus and Pinnacle. The Zelam Grape Spray Calculator App allows users to easily work out the correct per hectare rate of product for their particular vineyard, eliminating under or over dosing.
