Flint from Bayer CropScience – Outstanding Crop Protection Against Pome-Fruit Disease
Pome-fruit growers all over the world looking for a powerful Crop Protection fungicide to combat scab diseases (Venturia spp.) are increasingly turning to a product in Bayer's portfolio – the mesostemic fungicide Flint 50 WG. Its outstanding performance against fruit and leaf scab sets new standards in the control of these diseases, which are by far the most serious affecting pome fruit.
Flint controls a large number of pome fruit diseases when applied preventively. These include powdery mildew (Podosphaera leucotricha) and other important diseases affecting fruits in the summer season and during storage. It offers growers a safe and reliable way of maximising both yield and fruit quality. But Flint has many other positive qualities:
Formulated as extruded granules, the product is presented in a modern, easy-to-handle formulation.
Plant tolerance is high, allowing flexible use in spraying programmes throughout the entire growing period.
Flint is highly resistant to rain and has a long residual action.
Its favourable toxicological profile and low residue levels make it safe for users, pickers and consumers.
Flint is ideal for use in integrated production systems because it is unlikely to harm beneficial organisms.
Through its reasonable price, low dosage and positive impact on yield and quality, Flint makes a major contribution to boosting the net incomes of pome fruit growers.
Mesostemic action – what does that mean? Flint contains the active ingredient trifloxystrobin, a second-generation strobilurin that, like all substances in the innovative strobilurin fungicides group, is derived from the Pseudothecium containing asci and ascospores Infected leaves on ground Conidium Released ascospores Growth of subcuticular mycelium and stroma Ascospore on leaf surface Conidia Conidiophores Stroma with sporulation Germination and penetration by ascospore Germination and penetration by conidium Conidia on leaf surface Conidia on conidiophores Germinating Young stroma conidium Overwintering naturally-occurring substances strobilurin A and oudemansin A.
These two substances are extremely sensitive to light and therefore have too short a half-life to be used in practice as fungicides. In the case of trifloxystrobin, the active group in the molecule – the triene system – has been stabilised by changing the molecular structure to include a phenyl ring and a trifluoromethyl side chain. This side chain also gives Flint the unique “mesostemic” properties that distinguish it from other fungicidal substances. Its strong affinity to wax makes the substance stick to the upper surfaces of plants for a long time, forming a rain-resistant deport of the active ingredient. Well protected against the elements, trifloxystrobin can now exert its powerful and lasting influence.
Redistribution mechanisms also help it to reach nearby areas that were not directly reached by the spray. For instance, the substance diffuses into the leaf tissue, from where it exerts its translaminar action. Smaller but still biologically effective amounts evaporate and are transported to other parts of the treated plant. This means that the protective fungicidal coating that surrounds the plant and effectively wards off fungal infections is replenished from the depot.
Top-level scab control Scab diseases are by far the most serious affecting pome fruit. Scabs on apples or pears decrease both the quality and the quantity of the harvest. As scab infections affect all the non-woody parts of the tree, the repeated leaf loss they cause can impair the tree's ability to grow and produce fruit, and can even, in extreme cases, eventually kill trees.
17-Aug-2006