Serifel® Biofungicide Provides Numerous Advantages for Potatoes

{Sponsored} Reports show that there was minimal disease pressure this season; however, next season is right around the corner. Now is the optimal time to start planning how to prevent early blight and foliar disease in the upcoming season. What many growers may not know is that biofungicides can be an effective tool for early blight and foliar disease control.

Biological crop protection agents, such as biofungicides and bioinsecticides, can help reduce the damage caused by diseases and pests including fungi, insects and slugs. Biofungicides work by colonizing the surface of roots or plants with beneficial bacteria that suppress disease development.

To help control certain diseases, growers can use biological crop protection agents like Serifel® biofungicide as a preventative spray in potatoes for foliar disease.

Many biofungicides have problems washing off in rain or irrigation, which prevents them from fully protecting plants. Unlike most biofungicides on the market, Serifel biofungicide is rainfast within only three hours. “You can apply Serifel biofungicide and have confidence it won’t wash away,” said Mila Pearce, who was BASF’s product manager at the time of press.

Its pure formulation is what separates Serifel biofungicide from the competition. “We have an advantage over most other biologicals in formulation; we can provide confidence and insurance to growers so they know the correct circumstances for maximizing performance,” Pearce said.

The spraying window for Serifel biofungicide is between 50 and 120 degrees, meaning it can be easily applied in most growing conditions. Serifel biofungicide is also UV tolerant. In development, it was exposed to intense UV light such as what would be found at the equator. Serifel biofungicide survived seven days in that amount of UV light. It can also tolerate up to 130 degrees after application. “Serifel biofungicide is tough, hardy and persistent,” said Pearce. The purity with which it is formulated makes the difference.

Besides early blight, Serifel biofungicide has also proven to protect against Sclerotinia, Rhizoctonia and Phytophthora for potatoes, as well as Fusarium for other crops.

There is evidence that Serifel biofungicide is not only a winner with regards to resistance management, but that research also suggests Serifel biofungicide can kill resistant populations of diseases, allowing conventional chemistries such as Priaxor® fungicide and Endura® fungicide to actually work better.

Serifel biofungicide works best when used in a resistance management program. Ideally, it is applied along with the following conventional products: Endura fungicide, Headline® fungicide, Forum® fungicide and Priaxor fungicide. It is recommended that farmers mix Serifel biofungicide with conventionals for added value. It is important that the conventionals are correctly tank mixed with Serifel biofungicide (see a BASF representative for more information). When chlorothalonil is in short supply, Serifel biofungicide may make an excellent substitution.

Serifel biofungicide has no Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) and zero waiting periods. Looking closer at its formulation, Serifel biofungicide has 1 trillion more spores per application per acre than most other competitors’ biologicals on the market.

“That number is hard to visualize; if you take those microscopic organisms end to end, it will reach from the east coast to the west coast. This brings a lot of added value to the grower — not only in peace of mind, but in knowing that with the way bacteria multiply, it has the potential to grow very quickly; theoretically, those one trillion more spores have the potential to multiply, out pacing the original application of some competitors,” said Pearce.

BASF understands that many farmers see mystery in biologicals. To learn more about biologicals and how they can work within your operation, contact your BASF representative.

For more information, visit www.GrowSmartPotatoes.com or contact your local BASF representative.

Always read and follow label directions. Priaxor, Serifel, Endura, Headline and Forum are registered trademarks of BASF.

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