Here at Life Scientific, we like to make information on our products, developments, and scientific innovation as accessible as possible.
As part of this open approach, we have become a member of FarmPEP.net.
FarmPEP has been co-designed by an industry wide partnership, supported by Innovate UK and ADAS.
The initiative is described on the ADAS website as:
“a new knowledge exchange platform that is open to all. The aim is to connect across agriculture and support farm centric knowledge generation”
FarmPEP is for all agricultural stakeholders: farmers, agricultural advisors, researchers, industry and knowledge exchange practitioners. Anyone is able to join the community and share. There are topics that all organisations, initiatives and resources can connect to. ‘Wikipedia’ style summaries create an easy way to transfer knowledge focused around a theme.
FarmPEP encourages knowledge sharing on all aspects of agriculture, with a focus on active projects, farm-led innovation, and research. The aim is to connect content, rather than duplicating what already exists, via summaries and signposting to external websites. Users can share commercial content, products and services, as long as it is clearly marked as such.”
The FarmPEP website can be found at: https://adas.co.uk/services/farm-pep/
AZOXYSTAR – not just another generic
Reverse-engineered products from Life Scientific are made to be identical to the proprietary brand, and we are always looking for ways to show this in the field, either in efficacy trials or in other practical ways.
We were recently contacted by a grower who uses a high nitrate source of water from a borehole. Whilst Amistar has always sprayed well for him, some generic azoxystrobin formulations have allegedly caused blockages in his sprayer.
To prove the quality of our product, we tested AXOXYSTAR and Amistar in our Dublin laboratory using the farmer’s water. Neither product left any residue in a wet sieve test (as done in physical tank-mix work). The scientists also used equipment called a Turbiscan which predicts the behaviour of the product in solution over time, the higher the line the less predicted sedimentation. Again, both performed well, with AZOXYSTAR giving less predicted sedimentation than Amistar.
In-furrow use in potatoes
AZOXYSTAR is approved at 3.0L/Ha at planting in the furrow in potatoes to reduce the severity of Stem Canker, Black Scurf and Black Dot (see label for details).
To support the label extension for AZOXYSTAR in potatoes at planting, Life Scientific worked with Team Sprayers (https://www.team-sprayers.com) and Techneat Engineering (http://www.techneatengineering.co.uk) to confirm the application performance of the product through direct injection applicators.
The work showed that AZOXYSTAR had identical throughput to Amistar at 3 to 5 bar, from 50 to 150L/Ha, using different nozzles to suit the varying forward speed of different potato planters.
They also found that AZOXYSTAR is easily cleaned from the system by standard washing procedures
This practical work was supported by 10 replicated field trials conducted in the UK and Northern France, which showed no significant differences in disease reduction levels between AZOXYSTAR and Amistar.
Don’t forget beans
With disease levels in Field Beans being a worry this year, don’t forget that Azoxystar can be used twice at 1.0L/Ha between BBCH 60 and 69 to control Rust.
Disease control in cereals
The choice of fungicide partners for T1 is proving especially challenging this year as April weather made timely T0 applications difficult in many areas.
ESKER and ORASO PRO, which both contain tebuconazole and prothioconazole, can help in your cereal fungicide programmes.
Both products are approved in wheat, barley, oats and Winter rye.
Tebuconazole has proven activity against Yellow and Brown rust, and prothioconazole has good activity against a range of the key cereal diseases. The combination of the two active ingredients makes an ideal tank-mix partner, covering a wide range of diseases including Yellow rust, Powdery mildew, Septoria, ear diseases and Eyespot in wheat, Powdery mildew, rusts, Net blotch, Rhynchosporium, ear diseases and Eyespot in barley, Powdery mildew, Brown rust, Rhynchosporium in rye, and Crown rust, Powdery mildew and Eyespot in oats.
To show the comparability of ORASO PRO with Prosaro, the reference product from which ORASO PRO was reverse-engineered, a trial was conducted by ADAS to demonstrate activity against Yellow Rust in wheat. Kestrel was also included in the trial.
The results confirmed that ORASO PRO was at least as effective as the standards in the trial, giving excellent control of Yellow Rust.
The active ingredients in ORASO PRO and ESKER are absorbed quickly into the leaf and translocated within the plant.
Ongoing work at Life Scientific is investigating how formulation can help penetration and movement within the plant and we are trialling a unique optimised cereal fungicide solution this year in the UK, which we hope to launch in 2024.
