A group of chemistry options from Corteva Agriscience is providing macadamia growers with excellent pest and disease control and helping with sustainability into the future.

Corteva Agriscience Central Queensland territory manager, Matt Kunde said macadamias had become an important crop in areas such as Bundaberg but were also under scrutiny with their proximity to urban environments.

“The close proximity of macadamia orchards to houses and other built-up areas means the attributes of the chemistries being used are very important”

“Growers are looking for products that are effective against a range of pests and diseases and also have other benefits such as fit into a IPM program and low toxicity to non-target species,” he said.

“Corteva has been focused on developing products that effectively control the labelled pest and include a full range of attributes to assist growers in their orchard.”

Mr Kunde said Transform was one example of a product that controlled key macadamia pests and could be used as part of an IPM program.

“Transform is registered for the control of fruit-spotting bug and banana spotting bug and has recently had lace bug added to the label.

“This means it can be positioned early in the season to knock down the populations of fruit-spotting bug and lace bug and leave key beneficials insects in the crop.

“Some other insecticide options at that early stage of the season knock out the beneficial insects so Transform is an ideal option.”

He said a Transform registration for macadamia felted coccid was also pending so would provide growers with control options on a greater number of pests.

Recently Corteva updated the Transform formula from a suspension concentrate (SC) to a water dispersible granule (WG). Transform WG is more cost effective to manufacture and these saving have been passed to growers.

Corteva also has Prodigy for macadamia flower caterpillar and macadamia nut borer control and Success Neo for macadamia nut borer and thrip control.

“The three insecticides of Transform WG, Prodigy and Success Neo complement each other,” Mr Kunde said. “They target different insect pests, have a role in IPM programs and are a dramatic improvement on the older chemistries the macadamia industry was once reliant upon.”

As well as the excellent insecticide options, Corteva also has Fontelis fungicide which is registered for the control of husk spot and has a pending registration for dry flower.

“Dry flower causes necrosis and die back of the raceme and in severe cases can restrict bud development. This significantly impacts nut set and, in some cases, can cause complete crop losses” Mr Kunde said.

“Because this disease can be aggressive and can cause considerable damage and crop loss, the registration of Fontelis will give growers an excellent tool to protect their crop.

“Fontelis fungicide is a Group 7 SDHI fungicide with a favourable IPM profile and low toxicity.”

Mr Kunde said the suite of chemistries available from Corteva offered a new era of pest and disease control with additional advantages for macadamia growers.

“We have products that effectively control a wide range of pests and diseases and can be utilised in an IPM program. They have low toxicity to non-target organisms so are good options for macadamia farmers,” he said.