The product protects canola from flea beetles and cutworms
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Syngenta has introduced a new product to give canola producers better protection against pests in their fields.
On Monday, the company announced the launch of its Fortenza Advanced insecticide canola seed treatment to help control striped flea beetles, crucifer flea beetles and cutworms.
Fortenza Advanced contains sulfoxaflor (a Group 4A insecticide) and cyantraniliprole (a Group 28 insecticide). The combination of those two ingredients will go a long way in protecting canola fields, said Karen Ullman, seedcare and inoculant product lead with Syngenta Canada.
The product “gives canola producers peace of mind with industry-leading flea beetle protection, and can help reduce the likelihood a farmer will have to spray a foliar insecticide early in the season,” she said in a statement.
Flea beetles and cutworms can do significant crop damage if allowed to spread, said John Gavolski, an entomologist with Manitoba Agriculture.
“The flea beetle situation was bad this year,” he told Farms.com. “There was a lot of foliar spraying and some re-seeding in addition to available seed treatments. It seems like there were chronically high flea beetle (populations) this year.”
Cutworm levels in Manitoba were also high this year. Allowing the insects to feed on plants can result in lower plant stands. And farmers are already cutting back planting populations to manage input costs, Gavolski said.
“If these insects go uncontrolled, you’re definitely looking at a reduced plant stand,” he said. “So, if you’ve got a marginal seeding rate and you start losing plant stands, you’re cutting into your profit potential.”
Canola Council of Canada photo