The anticipated arrival of three new grape fungicides from Syngenta has generated excitement among advisors, eager for growers to realise the benefits in their production systems.
As a global leader in plant health, it’s a rare moment even by Syngenta’s high standards to be bringing three new fungicides to market at once in one crop segment.
Syngenta has confirmed it currently has applications for registration, with the APVMA, for Keybri Ultra, Seeker Duo and Taegro fungicides.
Syngenta portfolio lead Scott Mathew said, "It's remarkable to have three products to launch in viticulture at the same time.” An overview of each product is provided below:
- Keybri Ultra fungicide contains two modes of action, with excellent rainfastness, offering up to 21-days control of downy mildew
- Seeker Duo fungicide, provides robust control of powdery mildew for up to 21 days, with two modes of action providing “true synergistic activity”
- Taegro fungicide is a biological option for powdery mildew and botrytis management.
Mr Mathew said his pipeline demonstrates Syngenta's continued commitment to bringing new and innovative solutions to Australia's wine industry.
Powdery mildew is the main focus year-to-year for Elders Loxton agronomist, Steve Lehmann.
“Seeing Seeker Duo up against other chemistry, and seeing how it’s performed, I would quite comfortably say that once it’s registered, it will be included in our programs. I’m really impressed seeing the control of powdery mildew.
“Having had the chance to see Seeker Duo in trials alongside untreated sections… it confirms for me that it has worked.”
In the wake of a wet year and an especially bad season for downy mildew, and sustained disease challenges more generally, EE Muir & Sons Victoria viticulturalist Adrian Utter said it was particularly exciting to see new solutions coming to market to combat perennial problems.
“We’re perpetually dealing with downy mildew, and we have resistance to some of the [standard] products. Having a robust new product [like Keybri Ultra], especially in a challenging year like 2022, is important,” he said.
Downy mildew was evident at the Syngenta Learning Centre site, which allowed Keybri Ultra fungicide to be put to the test.
DJ’s Grower Services viticulturalist James Hook said he was “really interested for growers to trial Taegro … a one-stop biological product that allows growers to swap out sulphur and take that away and use a product like Taegro that potentially gives us the ability to run a whole season without using sulphur.”
Jenny Venus, an Adelaide Hills agronomist with Brad Case Contracting, observed Syngenta’s innovation pipeline earlier this year.
“It can be a really hard decision to just use a product but being able to come to a trial site and see what’s happening in the paddock, it’s such a quicker adoption,” she said.
Nutrien agronomist Andrew Seton-Stewart welcomed Syngenta’s focus in viticulture.
“Some of our standards aren’t performing 100% at the moment, so to see the new chemistry coming through from Syngenta is awesome,” he said.
“To see them outperform those standards gives us a lot of confidence when it comes time to ask our growers to use them.”
