Emesto^® Prime fungicide registered for in furrow use to control black scurf in potatoes

Emesto Prime is a rhizoctonia specialist, and contains penflufen as its active ingredient, an SDHI belonging to Fungicide Group 7. Currently there are no other Group 7 fungicides registered for Potatoes in New Zealand.

Marc Fox, product manager for Horticulture and Biologics says: “Having a new chemical group to use against black scurf is great news for the potato industry. The introduction of a robust product from a new chemistry group will give resistance management a real boost.”

Emesto Prime can be used in rotation with existing treatments. Rotation of products from different chemistry groups will protect all products that are vulnerable to resistance by avoiding the build-up of resistant disease populations.

A key feature which assists the performance of Emesto Prime is that it has minimal foliar translocation. The benefit of this is that the active ingredient stays in and around the roots where it is most effective against rhizoctonia.

Emesto Prime is also very easy to use and can be applied using the current methods of in-furrow spray application. It doesn’t require the purchase or adaption of any equipment.

Quick emergence of potato plants is essential to minimise the risk of rhizoctonia attack. In New Zealand trials (1) measuring plant emergence, Emesto Prime clearly demonstrated significant emergence benefits over untreated plots, and similar results to an industry standard treatment when assessed.

Emesto Prime has an application rate range of 4.0 mL to 5.5 mL/100 m of row. When choosing a rate, growers should consider the potential rhizoctonia disease pressure of the planting site and adopt a rate accordingly.

If you have any questions about Emesto^® Prime fungicide and its use in potatoes, please get in touch with your Bayer Crop Science representative.