How do crop protection products work? The sector has fewer and fewer resources at its disposal. Why is that and how should we deal with it? These questions were addressed during the fourth day of the course Agricultural Sprayer Academy (ASA) at Syngenta in Enkhuizen.
The meeting kicked off with a very topical subject. There are fewer and fewer plant protection products (PPP) available in agriculture. Increasingly stricter application standards apply to the products that remain.
During the course day, Jelle Westerlaken of Syngenta will talk about the various permitted spray nozzles and give advice and explanations about how to handle spraying the crops. According to Westerlaken, the most important thing is to know where you want to be in the crop and then adjust the nozzle accordingly. For example, do you want to be at the top of the crop or at the bottom? That is important to know for the cap choice.
wireworm control
Hans Buikema of Syngenta then zooms in on the current problem with wire ropes. After the disappearance of Mocap and Actara, wireworm control will become a challenge in the upcoming potato season. Wire needles are the larvae of the click beetle and remain in the soil for 3 to 5 seasons before pupating. Due to the disappearance of GBM, the larvae population is less and less suppressed. As a result, wireworm infestations are found even in the first year after grassland is split. Normally this was only the case in the second year after the grassland was torn.
Nemathorin remains as a suitable agent for wireworm control. The effect and application of the drug was discussed extensively during the course. For example, for a better effect it is important that during the row application the agent is spread widely in the back and not as a narrow line in the row.
Future Music
Syngenta is also working on crop protection of the future. An ongoing project concerns the RNAi technology with which insects can be controlled very selectively. The technology makes it possible to fight only 1 specific insect. Trials have already been conducted showing that RNAi technology works. For the practice in open cultivation, it is still in the future, since it then has to be produced on a large scale. The method of application on a large scale is also still an issue.
Finally, Joep Boon talks about seed breeding at Syngenta. One of the developments that will be discussed is cauliflower that no longer changes color under sunlight. So it always remains white.
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