New Fungicide for Soybean Foliar Diseases
On May 24, 2018, Syngenta announced EPA registration of its Adepidyn carboxamide fungicide (SDHI mode of action–FRAC code 7). The company announced Miravis as the brand name for the fungicide product line containing the new active ingredient. The various Miravis products will be labeled for use on corn, soybeans, wheat, peanuts, grapes, vegetables, and potatoes.
Miravis fungicide product line will include five brands that serve different markets, and will be available in late 2018, with full introduction anticipated in 2019. Of particular interest to Midsouth crop producers will be Miravis Top to control frogeye leaf spot, target spot, and Septoria brown spot in soybeans, Miravis Neo to control gray leaf spot, northern corn leaf blight, and common and southern rust in corn, and Miravis Ace to control Fusarium head blight or head scab in wheat.
Miravis Top fungicide is a combination of Adepidyn and difenoconazole (FRAC code 3–one of the active ingredients in Quadris Top) fungicides that will be labeled for soybeans. This product should offer control of strobilurin-resistant frogeye leaf spot. The adepidyn component will be particularly efficacious against leaf spot diseases in soybeans.
Miravis Neo fungicide is a combination of Adepidyn, propiconazole (FRAC code 3–active ingredient in Tilt), and azoxystrobin (FRAC code 11–active ingredient in Quadris) fungicides. Thus, this mix will contain 3 modes of action. It will offer control of the above-listed corn diseases, as well as frogeye leaf spot and Septoria brown spot in soybeans.
Miravis Ace fungicide is a combination of Adepidyn and propiconazole (FRAC code 3–active ingredient in Tilt) that will be formulated for use on wheat, and is expected to be especially efficacious against Fusarium head blight or head scab.
As stated above, adepidyn fungicide has received federal EPA registration, and is currently pending state registrations. Labels for each product will be posted when a first state registration is received. The expected full product launch will be for the 2019 crop season.
As of the writing of this article, I am not aware of any available efficacy data for these products, but I assume they will be forthcoming from both Syngenta and university plant pathologists who have tested them. Hopefully, this new product will provide producers with a new and effective weapon against the troublesome leaf spot diseases that plague soybeans, as well as provide a new tool to manage strobilurin-resistant frogeye leaf spot.
I provide the following cautions. 1) Producers should consider this potential new fungicide tool as a rare gift that should not be overused as was the case with earlier fungicides such as Quadris. In other words, use this new, potentially effective tool only where needed to control verified cases of targeted disease presence. 2) Rotate this fungicide with other fungicides that contain ingredients with a different mode of action where possible to control a targeted disease pathogen. 3) Above all, do not apply it on all soybean acres to obtain its touted “plant health” benefits, since this will eventually lead to pathogen resistance to this fungicide ingredient and its subsequent loss as a disease management tool. Click here for a detailed discussion of this subject.
Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, June 2018, larryheatherly@bellsouth.net