Tillage: are there new products coming down the line?

There is no big new entrant on the market this year in terms of plant protection products, but there are a number of new active ingredients and products in the pipeline from different companies for the seasons ahead.

These new products, of course, need to be approved and registered by the Department of Agriculture.

In recent years, many plant protection products have been lost from the market. Some of these have been critical to disease and herbicide control, but products are being banned for a reason and if they are unsafe to use, they should not be on the market.

On average, it takes 10 to 12 years to bring a new active ingredient to the market in the EU and research and development companies spend about €350m to do so. It takes time and, as more products leave the market, it does appear that fewer products are coming on to it.

Grass weed control is one area that growers are no doubt concerned about.

Grass weeds are becoming more common, resistance to herbicides on the market is increasing, including to glyphosate, and, worryingly, very little is being done by the Department of Agriculture to prevent the importation of grass weeds and herbicide resistant grass weeds.

Straw and seed continues to enter the country with these weed seeds in the products.

Grass weeds

Luximo from BASF is available in the UK and has grass weed control on its label. This is hugely positive, but growers need to know that while Luximo offers protection, it won’t cure all your grass weed problems. It will help, but you will need other herbicides alongside it.

It may make it to market in 2027, pending everything is passed by the Department of Agriculture.

Bayer and FMC have a new herbicide in the pipeline. Bixlozone/Isolfex should be a big help with resistant grass weeds and is a welcome development.

Rinskor is part of the same family as Arylex herbicides and is used in ProClova.

It is the key ingredients in a new herbicide for sugar beet and fodder beet from Corteva. It has been trialled in Ireland and the UK. Also in beet, a fungicide, Revysol from BASF will be available for use on beet this year.

Fungicides

Adepidyn from Syngenta is yet to make its way on to the market. The trade and farmers have been long awaiting its arrival. The product which goes by the name Miravis in the UK will be a big help in wheat disease control and has been a long time in the registration line. Syngenta is working on a number of biological products that should cater more for the EU registration process.

Iblon from Bayer is already in use in the UK. It was first registered in New Zealand in 2019. Iblon is an SDHI and delivers broad-spectrum activity on the main diseases of cereal crops. Bayer says it is a unique SDHI which has incomplete cross-resistance with other SDHIs, so where some SDHIs have reduced efficacy against net blotch for example, iblon still delivers high levels of efficacy.

Corteva has a new fungicide that is still a bit away, but it is related to Inatreq and is a QiI fungicide.

BASF will commercialise new formulations based on Adama’s active ingredient Gilboa, which will provide protection against diseases in cereal crops and help with resistance management. It is expected onto the market in the UK in 2027. EU registrations are expected in 2029, but it is not known when it is expected in Ireland. Pavecto, a strobilurin, is also expected to come to the market in the not too distant future.

Insecticide

Axalion is a new insecticide from BASF. It is a few years off being used here in Ireland. It can provide control of aphids and no doubt a new mode of action to tackle Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus will be welcome. The company says it can “work harmoniously with beneficials [beneficial pests] and the environment”.