The Horticultural Development Company has secured an extension of authorisation for minor use (EAMU) to help carrot growers in their battle against carrot fly.
The EAMU is for Coragen, which has DuPont Rynaxypyr chlorantraniliprole as its active ingredient, an effective insecticide against carrot fly larvae that can cause carrot seedlings to be stunted or killed as they feed on the roots.
Over the past 10 years the fly has been controlled effectively using pyrethroid insecticides, applied either as seed treatments or foliar sprays. Although there is no evidence that carrot fly have become resistant to pyrethroids, the addition of another product offers industry more weapons in the fight against the pest and could reduce the risk of resistance developing through the use of just one active.
In HDC-funded trials looking at the control of carrot fly, Rosemary Collier and Andrew Jukes of Warwick Crop Centre demonstrated that programmes containing ‘Coragen’ provided levels of control that were at least as effective as, and sometimes better than, the standard insecticide programme used in the trials.
British Carrot Growers Association R&D committee member David Martin said: “Coragen brings a new active ingredient to the control of carrot fly in the UK. For many years we have relied entirely on a single active ingredient that has been very successful in terms of control, but this practice has not allowed a sound approach to resistance management. With the addition of Coragen the industry will be able to integrate the use of this new material into control programs to achieve long-term sustainable control of this important pest and the continued long-season supply of high quality carrots”.
HDC has also submitted an application for the approval of Coragen on parsnips, parsley root and celeriac.
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