BASF announces new chemistry fungicide for 2012
BASF is continuing its tradition of innovation by introducing a new fungicide, which will be available to growers in 2012 pending registration. The new chemistry, called Xemium, is a carboxamide that works by inhibiting SDH in the respiratory complex II of the fungus. The mode of action will provide growers with another tool to manage disease as there is no cross resistance between carboxamides and strobilurins.
The composition of Xemium allows for mobility within the plant, providing long lasting disease control. The trifluorbiphynel portion of the compound helps it absorb into the waxy layer, and it is evenly transported to the tips of the leaves. Uptake is 20 percent to 40 percent to provide for preventative action and continuous delivery. In tests of the compound in cereals and soybeans, it moved toward the tip of the leaves but also stayed in the treated zone.
When Xemium comes on the market in 2012, it will be sold under three forumaltions: Merivon with Xemium, Priaxor with Xemium and Systiva with Xemium.
Priaxor with Xemium has been proposed for row crops, including cereals, corn, soybeans, fruiting vegetables, tuberous and corm vegetable subgroups, legumes and oil seed crops. It is a 2:1 ration of F500 and Xemium, and should be registered at 4-8 fluid ounces/acre and up to three applications a season in fruiting and tuberous vegetables and two applications for all others.
One of the most economically important plants Priaxor with Xemium is being submitted for is potatoes. In research tests, it showed very good results on potato early blight, even outperforming Endura fungicide. Tomatoes are also a good fit for Priaxor against early blight, Walker said. It’s a new class of chemistry for tomatoes, so there’s an advantage for growers in their disease management programs, he said. It will be tank-mixable and there will be a label for aerial application in row crops.
In corn, Priaxor with Xemium controls gray leaf spot as well as Headline AMP, and has shown good results in controlling against common rust, northern corn leaf blight and southern rust. There was also a noticeable increase in yield using Priaxor with Xemium, according to BASF.
Merivon with Xemium will be for the specialty crop market, and registration at launch will be for pome fruits and stone fruits. The formulation is 1:1 of F500 and Xemium, with applications of 3-5.5 fluid ounces/acre and up to four applications a season for pome fruit and three for stone fruit.
In apples, Merivon with Xemium controls apple scab and powdery mildew. In research tests, it outperformed Cabrio for apple scab control and showed excellent control against powdery mildew (50 percent disease severity on untreated trees, versus 3 percent on Merivon with Xemium-treated trees).
BASF is also looking at grapes for future submissions. In research tests, Merivon with Xemium performed better than Prisine, and at a very low rate and very long interval it controlled powdery mildew very well, said Scott Walker, biology project manager for BASF.
The final forumulation from BASF using Xemium is Systiva with Xemium, which is proposed as a row crop seed treatment for crops including, barley, corn, cotton, dried shelled peas and beans, podded legume vegetables, oat, peanut, rye, sorghum, soybean, sunflower, wheat and tricale seed. The labeled application rate is expected to be 0.24-2.36 fluid ounces per 100 pounds. The product exceeded baseline standard seed treatments for emergence, and in inoculated soybean testing it controlled rhizoctonia, according to BASF.
The development of Xemium is roughly a 12 year product development cycle that costs about $276 million. BASF plans to release 28 new products between 2010 and 2013, some of which have already hit the market or been announced, including Kixor and Xemium.
