With two events that brought together more than 200 people in total, Corteva Agriscience launched its Granite product, a contact herbicide, selective for pre-emergence and residual post-emergence control of broadleaf weeds and grasses.
The first event was held on May 16 at the Club de la Unión in Curicó, where more than 150 attendees came, including producers, farmers and various people from the agricultural industry.
«This is a development that we have been working on for many years. In one of the presentations, it was mentioned that we have been developing this herbicide for more than 10 years. The truth is that we have been working with many residual herbicides in fruit trees for years and the company gradually decided to run out of these tools and when we saw this opportunity, we found that it was the ideal product to continue moving forward. The truth is that we are sure of the selectivity and good use of the product to reach this launch day, which is essential for us,» explained Jorge Grau, Commercial Manager of Corteva for Chile and part of Argentina.
Both the Curicó and Linares events featured several presentations on weed control and, of course, the Granite product, whose active ingredient is Oxifluorfen + Penoxsulam. The exhibitors were Alejandro Toro, Field Agronomist Corteva Agriscience; Luis Sandoval, R&D Corteva Agriscience; Dr. Marcelo Kogan, Director of the Board of Directors of SIDAL; Dr. Claudio Alister, General Director of SIDAL.
«We are showing Granite to the fruit market as an important tool in weed control, obtaining outstanding residual periods, with the development of important fruit species in the central and south-central areas, with control behavior that will bring solutions to many fields with problems and difficulties in some weed species that have become more tolerant and some are resident. to certain mechanisms of action; for producers this is a tool that will be useful to avoid the appearance of resistant biotypes, which is what happens with successive applications year after year with other herbicides," added Alejandro Toro, Field Agronomist Corteva Agriscience.
The second event took place on May 17 at the Parada de Linares hotel, where the new active soil herbicide for fruit trees was unveiled; Granite's technical data sheet details: «Pre-emergence oxyfluorfen forms a residual chemical barrier on the soil surface that damages and kills weeds during germination and subsequent emergence. It also acts by contact with weed foliage. Its mechanism of action consists of inhibiting the enzyme Protox, causing the rupture of cell membranes (lipid peroxidation). Penoxsulam inhibits the enzyme acetate lactate synthase (ALS), a key enzyme in the synthesis of amino acids.».
This herbicide has two modes of application: pre-emergence and post-emergence applications; the first allows for more effective control when applied to clean soil. In this way, the weeds germinate and come into contact with the treated soil. The second mode of application requires complete and uniform coverage of the weed foliage in order to achieve optimal control.
«The main features that I highlight are its excellent control spectrum, the truth is that there are very few weeds that can escape this product and the other advantage is the residual effect it has, we have measured it 150-160 days after application in some cases with almost no emergence, so it is a tremendous tool in that regard,» Luis Sandoval, R&D Corteva Agriscience.
There are three main situations associated with the harmful effects of weeds on fruit production, starting with direct competition with fruit trees, which is more serious when the plants are young and lose their efficiency in absorbing nutrients; in turn, weeds can be a refuge for certain pests or act as trap plants and affect the action of biological controllers; and finally, fruit contamination by the presence of weed seeds considered invasive in some destination countries, which lead to rejections.
Claudio Aliste, Scientific Director of Sidal, made an interesting and educational presentation on this subject at the Granite launches: «It was specifically a presentation intended to transfer or clarify concepts that are generally wrong and that leads to diagnoses and selection of products that are not adequate, it was thought of in that, in a more general subject, in the conditions of the environment, what things of the products should be looked at, what parameters, different herbicides, how effective they are, to provide criteria according to the convenience of using programs of weed control and not focus on one product alone«.
Marcelo Kogan, researcher and professor at the University of Chile and former Director General of SIDAL, also participated in the event. He spoke about the launch of this herbicide from his expertise in the field: «I found the launch to be very well organised, with presentations that were quite realistic and there was no excessive advertising, but rather a product that works very well. I think that is very important, that it is very respectful of other products and companies, and that they really talk about their product with a high vision. The product itself is very effective, has a wide spectrum of action and, logically, like all products, once they are used on a more massive scale, certain things start to appear that require further investment in more methodical development and to resolve details that are often not seen. However, it is a good herbicide and it is one more tool that can be combined, making sequential applications to avoid tolerant weeds or the increase or appearance of new resistant biotypes in different species. So the sequence and the joint application of products are always welcome (…) there is no doubt that more work will have to be done, but it is a product that will be successful.»
Attendees at both events praised the launch of Granite and expressed their appreciation for the interesting exhibitions that took place at the event.
«First of all, these are very good dates to attend these events, so I am very grateful for the invitation. It is always a great thing to come and hear about new products, especially when trained professionals come, like those who came today. I especially liked Claudio Alister. One of the virtues of this product is the control of weeds that are a problem today, such as conyzas and fireweed, so it is a product that has a good niche, a good possibility to try them out, the product is interesting.», Cristian Selman, Technical Manager of Alessandrini Fruit Growers.
«A very good event with very important talks. It was very good that it started with the introduction of the application of residual herbicides, reinforcing concepts that one sees as very general, very basic, but that it is always good to reinforce them and then, obviously, came what we were all waiting for, which are the new alternatives for weed control; (it caught my attention) that there is a new active ingredient, which belongs to a new family, which is Penoxsulam, and apart from the control of conyzas and epilobium, which are the two major weeds that have us producers in the Sixth and Seventh regions very complicated." concluded the Assistant Production Manager of Grupo Agua Santa, Oscar Herrera.
