New Syngenta SDHI fungicide Elatus Era coming to Ireland

Last backend, Syngenta launched a new fungicide active under the trade name Solatenol. This is the trade name for the company’s new SDHI active and by all accounts it appears to be quite an active substance for use on cereals and some other crops against a range of diseases. We understand that registration in Ireland is imminent in a mixture with prothioconazole to be called Elatus Era. Registration has already been secured in France and the UK.

Being an SDHI active, it is certainly not to be used on its own in any crop and it is no surprise that the first product containing Solatenol will come to the market in Ireland as the co-formulation. This mixture, called Elatus Era, is mixed with prothioconazole (Proline), and is expected to receive registration from the Pesticide Registration and Controls Divisions of the Department shortly and should be on sale here in 2017.

This product contains 75g/l of Solatenol plus 125g/l of prothioconazole. Solatenol is the trade name for the new SDHI active benzovindiflupyr and you’ll agree with me that Solatenol is easier. The maximum rate for this combination is 1.0l/ha, with one application per crop per season. It can be used on all cereals, winter and spring.

Syngenta says that a number of other products are also likely to be brought to the market in the near future. Some of these may well be other co-formulations, but some may also be combination packs with straight product alongside a second product to be used with it. Syngenta says that there is no issue with regard to using Solatenol in any combination with Bravo.

Elatus Era can be used at either the T1 or T2 timings in wheat but the bulk of results would indicate that it performs better on yield when used at T2 or GS39.

It is of interest to note that it can only be used once in a season. When I first heard this I wondered if this was the future for all SDHI actives as an anti-resistance measure and, God knows, this must be considered. However, this was not the driver for this decision and Syngenta gave the reason for only one application per season as a registration issue. The company believed a request for two applications might have significantly slowed its passage through the registration process and delayed its entry to the market.

Strong and consistent

The slogan that Syngenta uses for its new Solatenol active is: Powerful, consistent, complete.

It is claimed to have a degree of curative activity and is compared on many fronts with Adexar in terms of its efficacy and its yield benefit. But most comparisons are with Aviator and, on average, Syngenta claims a 0.3 t/ha yield benefit for this new mixture over Aviator, which also has prothioconazole as its partner triazole. However, as with any average, some trials showed a higher yield benefit than 0.3 t/ha, while others were much lower for whatever reason. But this can be said of all fungicides in trial.

It is said to provide very good control of septoria along with good persistence of activity. As with other SDHI combinations, green leaf retention helps to deliver the yield improvement by keeping the plant growing for longer.

Solatenol is said to be very good on rust diseases – yellow, brown and crown – and there is even a suggestion of some curative activity against yellow rust. This is important in the mixture where prothioconazole might struggle a bit against brown rust in particular.

Not surprisingly, Syngenta say that its yield benefit is driven by green leaf retention to enable grain fill for longer into the season. The Syngenta scientists suggested that every additional day that the green leaf area can be held above 37% will generate an additional 0.1t/ha in grain yield. Indeed, in one of the company’s trials a green leaf area of greater than 37% was maintained for an additional seven days and this resulted in a yield benefit of almost 0.9t/ha.

In general, the scientists indicated that the magnitude of the yield benefit could be predicted through green leaf retention. And they said that independent trials put the Solatenol mix as equal in performance and yield capability to Adexar.