The British Hop Association and AHDB have applied for 120-day emergency authorisations for the use of a copper hydroxide fungicide on hops and organic apples and pears.
The product, Funguran Progress, contains 537 g/kg copper hydroxide and is widely used on the continent. The emergency situation has arisen from the loss of copper oxychloride which has left growers with no means of controlling major diseases. For organic apples and pears the emergency application is for control of scab and in hops it is for the control of Alternaria cone disorder.
Funguran Progress will be marketed in the UK by Certis. The company’s IPM manager Semo Kurtev says the reason for revealing now that these emergency uses have been applied for is to enable growers to plan in advance for 2020 on the assumption that they will be granted in time.
“Organic apple and pear growers need to start scab control at green tip, usually reached during March, and for hops the proposed use period is from 1st June. Our advice is to discuss requirements with distributors now to secure availability.”
These applications have been achieved through the collaborative work of the AHDB crop protection team, industry representatives of the tree fruit panel members, distributor agronomists and Certis. Mr Kurtev says: “We eagerly await the outcome and anticipate they will come in time. For the longer term we are also pursuing on-label authorisations that growers will be able to rely on from year to year.”
