In 2009, new fungicide products will be available to producers in their efforts to combat disease. One product, Elast, is a type of chemistry new to the peanut market. The other product, Proline, when used in combination with Provost, offers producers battling CBR a much-needed weapon. Here is a brief look at those products.

With the application of any chemical product, always read and follow label directions for recommended use on the specified crop. Also, to maintain a strong resistance management program, products with diverse modes of action should be used throughout the crop production season.

Elast Fungicide
A new class of chemistry for peanuts, Elast offers leaf spot control and an opportunity to change the mode of action for a fungicide, an important step in preventing resistance.

Elast may be familiar to pecan producers, where it is the leading fungicide and is often used in tankmix combinations to control nut scab.

Bob Kemerait, University of Georgia Extension pathologist, says Elast is a viable protectant, which means that it has to be on the foliage before the disease occurs in order to protect it.

“It is a unique chemistry in the peanut market, and rotating chemistries is a good practice,” he says. “Use 15 ounces as a stand alone leaf spot control measure or 12.8 ounces if you want to tankmix it with something like Folicur.”

According to Aceto, the makers of Elast, it can be used alone as an economical alternative for chlorothalonil in sprays one, two and seven or in a tankmix with white mold products in sprays three through six.

Kemerait says, “Elast is a viable option for growers looking to change leaf spot chemistries at some point in the season.”

Proline Fungicide
Producers plagued with Cylindrocladium Black Rot (CBR) have a new in-furrow tool to suppress this disease. Bayer CropScience received Environmental Protection Agency registration permitting in-furrow applications of Proline fungicide to peanuts in the 2009 season.

“Losses from this disease can be devastating,” says Tim Brennemen, UGA research pathologist. “It is gradually increasing in Georgia.”

Brennemen says, first of all, it is important to correctly identify CBR because it can look very similar to Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus symptoms. However, if you see the brick-red fruiting bodies, or perithecia, on the crowns of the plant, it is CBR.

The disease has been shown to spread by seed transmission. Then, once in the soil, its fungal structures can survive for years. CBR affects the roots and the young root tips reaching out into the soil.

“We looked at in-furrow sprays because this helps get that fungicide into the soil, around and below the seed,” Brennemen says. “Infections can occur quickly, especially in the spring, when you might have cool, wet soils. So we want to start the plant out healthy and protect those young roots.

“The program we now have available to us incorporates Proline, with the active ingredient prothioconazole, and Provost, which is tebuconazole, the same active ingredient in Folicur, and prothioconazole. It turns out that tebuconazole has some toxicity to peanut seed. If it wasn’t for that, growers could just put out Provost in an in-furrow spray, but you get the injury to peanut seed.”

Brennemen says the combination of products provides a good new tool for CBR management, particularly if you are not going to fumigate with metam sodium or Vapam.

“To get the best protection out of this program, use Proline in-furrow plus Provost over the top,” he says, adding, “Sanitation and crop rotation remain two important cultural practices for controlling CBR.”

Randy Myers, Proline product manager, says using Proline at-plant will boost yield potential.

“Suppressing CBR levels gives peanuts stronger pegs that retain more pods during harvest,” he says.

In 27 university trials over multiple years with CBR pressure present, using an in-furrow application of Proline plus a Provost-block program increased yields by an average of more than 400 pounds per acre over using Provost alone.

“Diseases can lower peanut yield potential by literally hundreds or even thousands of pounds,” Myers says. “Using a fungicide such as Proline can give growers the opportunity to reclaim more peanuts and more profit.”

For additional information, contact your local Bayer CropScience field representative or visit www.BayerCropScienceUS.com.

Convoy Fungicide
Registration for Convoy came in mid-season 2008. Convoy is a liquid formulation of flutolanil for control of white mold/southern stem rot and Rhizoctonia limb rot/pod rot.

Flutolanil is the same active ingredient as in Artisan and Moncut fungicides, the latter of which will no longer be marketed. However, Convoy is more concentrated, which reduces the application rates and spray volume.

Its long soil-residual properties will deliver soilborne disease control even in dry conditions. Convoy is rainfast and can be applied through chemigation.

Convoy is easy to handle and apply and offers tankmix flexibility. With Convoy, growers can now choose the leaf spot fungicide that best fits their disease management program.

PG