Apr 4, 2016

Pome fruit fungicide update

Aprovia is a new fungicide (SDHI, FRAC group 7) available for pome fruit disease management. Due to crop safety concerns, BASF will be canceling the pome fruit registration for Vivando.

Aprovia — Syngenta

For the 2016 growing season, commercial growers will have a new tool in their tool box to help manage pome fruit diseases: Aprovia. Due to its recent release, this product was not included in the2016 – 2017 Tree Fruit Production Guide; however, Norm Lalancette (Rutgers) recently posted an article about Aprovia for Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s Plant and Pest Advisory and below is an excerpt about the attributes and suggested usage for disease control:

“Aprovia fungicide, manufactured by Syngenta, is currently labeled for use on pome fruit, grapes, blueberries, and some other small vining fruits. Within the pome fruit group, Aprovia can be used on a wide variety of crops, including apple, crabapple, pear, and Asian pear. The labeled pome fruit rate range is 5.5 to 7.0 oz/A with a preharvest interval (PHI) of 30 days and a restricted-entry interval (REI) of 12 hours.

The active ingredient in Aprovia is benzovindiflupyr, which is classified as an SDHI fungicide or FRAC group 7. In efficacy studies to date on apple, Aprovia has provided excellent control of apple scab and good control of rust and mildew. In contrast, the only other registered fungicide with a single SDHI active ingredient, Fontelis, provides similar scab control but somewhat less (fair) control of rust and mildew. Other SDHI fungicides are available, but are sold as pre-mixes with other chemistries. These dual-active materials are Luna Sensation, Merivon, and Pristine (SDHI + QoI), and Luna Tranquility (SDHI + AP).”

My two cents about Aprovia: We have evaluated Aprovia the last three seasons and it has worked very well managing apple scab under Pennsylvania conditions. I have had to rely on others’ experience with managing rust and powdery mildew since our disease pressure for these diseases was low and, as a result, was difficult to determine the efficacy. Since it is an SDHI, practice resistance management by tank mixing with a broad spectrum (captan or mancozeb) and rotate by FRAC group – this will be especially challenging when several products contain FRAC group 7 (SDHI), four of them premixes (Luna Tranquility, Luna Sensation, Merivon, and Pristine). An additional recommendation: Although Aprovia is labeled to control/suppress some summer fruit rots, it is best to limit its use for early in the season (to manage primary apple scab). This will help the resistance management fight.

Vivando — BASF

A supplemental label for Vivando was issued to include controlling powdery mildew on pome fruit. It is (was) a great tool to manage powdery mildew; however, due to crop safety concerns, BASF will be cancelling registration for Vivando to be used on pome fruit. The following statement was released by BASF:

Do Not Use Vivando Fungicide On Apples Or Other Pome Fruit Crops

During the 2015 growing season BASF received reports that select apple varieties were injured when tank mix applications of Vivando fungicide were applied. Therefore, BASF advises that growers Do Not make applications of Vivando fungicide to apples or other pome fruit crops. The pome fruit crops on the Vivando fungicide label include: Apple, Asian pear, Azarole, Crabapple, Loquat, Mayhaw, Medlar, Pear, Quince (including Chinese and Japanese), and Tejocote.

Vivando fungicide can still be used for control of powdery mildew on grapes, apricots, cherries, peaches, fruiting vegetables, cucurbit vegetables and hops. After spraying Vivando fungicide, growers are advised to completely drain the spray tank, thoroughly rinse it and make sure the spray lines to the nozzles are completely clean before the next use, particularly if the next crop is apples.

— Kari A. Peter, Penn State University