Integral® Pro, BASF’s biological seed treatment, has been granted approval for an Extension of Authorisation of Minor Use (EAMU) registration for use on linseed. This will enable seed producers to more reliably meet seed certification standards by reducing levels of seed borne disease.
Integral® Pro is manufactured by BASF as a biological seed treatment for winter oilseed rape and is comprised of Bacillus amyloquefaciens.
Sarah Middleton, market manager for seed and seed treatment, BASF said: “Using Integral® Pro as a linseed seed treatment knocks down the disease level to bring seed within certification standards. This will make seed production more reliable by increasing the confidence of recovering certified seed from the seed production crop. Integral® Pro also enhances the quality of crop establishment by boosting plant health, improving the plants’ defences and allowing the crop to get away.
“Use of Integral® Pro for the winter oilseed rape crop grew significantly between 2019 and 2020, with growers valuing the much needed boost to establishment that it gives. With no chemical seed treatment options available, the use of biologicals such as this is an extremely useful tool to have, and the approved extension to use in linseed will be welcomed by both growers and processors.”
Nigel Padbury, seed production and marketing manager, with Linseed specialist, Premium Crops, has worked closely with BASF in order to submit the EAMU. He said, ““In our tests, applying Integral® Pro to both yellow and brown linseed types which had up to 20% seed borne infection significantly decreased it down to under 5%, allowing for certification.”
On average, the failure rate of seed crops put forward to be certified is close to 50%. The most frequently observed seed borne pathogen species are Botrytis and Fusarium, in effect the levels permitted in Certified seed are capped at a maximum of 5% for both. The effect these pathogens have on the linseed is best described as ‘Damping Off’ where the development of a mould on the seed and/or the emerging seedling reduces germination and ultimately kills the plant.
Sarah Middleton
Mr Padbury said, “Botrytis and Fusarium species are widely found in the environment, common across years and in their geographic distribution. However, the difficulty that we have is that the occurrence of the disease is so erratic, growers do not know if or when their crops will be affected. This is compounded by the fact that there is no field test available, only a two week lab based test.
Mr Padbury said, “Using Integral® Pro will help our linseed growers achieve their premiums by significantly reducing the biggest risk to the crop and ensure quality seed to meet the ever increasing demand.”
Last year alone there was upwards of a threefold increase in the area of winter linseed grown, with growers looking for an alternative break crop to winter oilseed rape.
The EAMU can be downloaded from the CRD website:
https://secure.pesticides.gov.uk/offlabels/getfile.asp?noticeid=14991&approvalno=20210669
https://secure.pesticides.gov.uk/offlabels/getfile.asp?noticeid=14996&approvalno=20210670
Integral® Pro contains Bacillus amyloquefaciens. Integral® Pro is a registered trademark of BASF.
Always read the label and product information before use. For further product information including warning phrases and symbols, you can refer to agri.centre.basf.co.uk
