Scotts launch new fungicide

HERITAGE REVERSES PESTICIDE WITHDRAWAL TREND

By Dave Steward

The Scotts Company (UK) Ltd launched a brand new fungicide at the recent BTME Exhibition, containing a new active ingredient that offers unparalleled control of Fusarium disease. The launch of Heritage will be a welcome event for UK greenkeepers and Groundsmen, given the recent acceleration of product withdrawals from the turf and amenity market, as manufacturers find the costs of maintaining registration uneconomic.

Heritage belongs to a new class of highly effective, environmentally sound fungicides which have been developed from naturally occurring chemicals found in saprophytic woodland fungi. In UK development trials and in commercial use throughout the USA, Canada and Japan, the product has proved superior to other available treatments on every level.

Heritage disrupts the mitochondrial respiration of target fungi and prevents the pathogen from transferring energy, leading to the death of the fungal cells. This unique mode of action renders Heritage an ideal pest control option in the context of resistance management programmes.

Application of Heritage offers a long lasting prevention and early cure of turf disease, and efficacy is further enhanced by the products systemic mobility within the grass plant. Heritage is absorbed through leaf blade, crown, root and stem, and moves throughout the plant, via the xylem vessels, to provide total protection. The product will even move into fresh blade growth as it develops, and has a translaminar movement through the leaf blades.

Regular mowing of sports and amenity turf poses less of a threat to the control offered by Heritage compared to conventional products, as the active ingredient lost as sap exudes through the cut blade can be reabsorbed again through the roots.

This 'recyclable' characteristic, combined with the high performance of the product, means that Heritage has one of the lowest use-rate ranges on the turfgrass market - vital in today's environmentally aware industry. In addition, the low hazard rating to birds, beneficial insects, non-target organisms, and the operator makes Heritage an ideal choice for Integrated Pest Management Programmes.

Commenting on the launch of Heritage, Chris Kennedy of Wentworth Golf Club said: 'We were one of the first UK courses to try Heritage out during the development process and we agree wholeheartedly with the Scotts team - Heritage is a superb fungicide. We will certainly be using it as our primary protection against Fusarium from now on.'

Keith Chinnery, Colchester Golf Course Manager said: 'We've seen more than our fair share of Fusarium here. Not any more, though. One season of trials with the product has convinced me that it is the answer to our needs'

Heritage will be available from Scotts UK Distributors in time for the first preventative application in early spring.

Always read the label: Use pesticides safely: Heritage contains azoxystrobin.

For more information contact Dave Steward on 01473 830 492