Following the expiry of mancozeb’s active substance approval earlier this year, the sale and supply of any plant protection product containing the active will end on November 30th, 2024.
For growers with stocks of mancozeb-containing products, the storage, disposal, and use of any plant protection product will end on November 30th, 2025, meaning any stock purchased before the deadline will be available to growers next season.
UPL has worked hard with its distributor partners to supply enough for this season, which has seen a rise in demand following the surge in strains resistant to CAA and OSBPI fungicides on the continent, says Geoff Hailstone, UPL potato technical lead for the UK and Ireland.
The loss of mancozeb coincides with the first discovery of the 46_A1 strain in the UK. Geoff says that any stocks left over for blight programmes next season will benefit resistance management and present an opportunity to trial what blight programmes may look like after mancozeb. “We have already seen a significant increase in the sales of products like Proxanil (cymoxanil + propamocarb),” says Geoff. “I would expect this to continue as it is the next best option as a tank mix partner for resistance management.
“The two actives in Proxanil have no reported resistance issues. They are both the only members of different chemistry groups.
“Cymoxanil is known to be one of the few actives with kickback activity and has a very low risk of developing resistance. Propamocarb is the only active with reliable anti-sporulant activity across all known strains and has good movement in the plant,” explains Geoff.
Geoff encourages growers to coordinate closely with their distributors as the mancozeb deadline becomes closer to ensure they do not miss out for next season.
