This biological product from Bayer protects against soil-borne diseases
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Canadian potato farmers will have a new crop protection tool available to them in time for the 2023 season.
Minuet, Bayer’s soil-applied biological fungicide, which can also be used on other vegetable crops, received the necessary registration from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency.
Minuet protects crops from diseases like rhizoctonia root rot, black scurf, and stem canker.
The product’s biological species is FRAC Group BM02 Bacillus subtilis strain QST 713, which has been registered for use in Canada since 2007.
Farmers may be familiar with this active ingredient, said Bill Moons, a market development agronomist with Bayer.
“We’ve used the biological active in the fungicide for several years in the Serenade SOIL formulation,” he told Farms.com.
What makes Minuet different from Serenade SOIL is how the formulation is prepared.
The active ingredient in the fungicide is now pure, which has multiple benefits, Moons said.
“The metabolites are taken out,” he said. “Field testing in 2022 proved that it’s easier to mix and didn’t clog up nozzles or screens.”
Because of the changes, farmers are also able to cover more ground, Moons said.
“The typical rate (of Serenade SOIL) was about 1.9 litres per acre, and a 9.46 litre jug was covering five acres,” he said. “Now we’re covering 10 acres with a 3.8 litre jug with a rate of 379 mL per acre.”
The product brings yield benefits as well.
Bayer conducted field trials across Canada and found fields treated with its strain of Bacillus performed better than the grower standard treatment, Moons said.
“We have found that in about 80 per cent of our trials, growers got an average of a 5 per cent yield increase which provided a good return on investment,” he said.
In addition to Minuet’s registration, two additional Bayer products received expanded registration.
Proline GOLD and Propulse fungicides can be used on potatoes in Western and Eastern Canada, respectively.
The combination of prothioconazole (Group 3) and fluopyram (Group 7) actives will provide potato farmers control of early blight, brown leaf spot and white mold, alongside suppression of black dot.