Angled nozzle on target for blight spray and desiccation

In an effort to improve blight control and crop desiccation an estimated 20% of the UK potato area has converted to spraying with the Syngenta Potato Nozzles - specifically designed to improve spray penetration in dense crops and give better leaf coverage. Over 600 packs of the angled nozzles have already been sold this season, sufficient to replace conventional nozzles on around 175 sprayers.

Syngenta Application Specialist, Ben Magri, highlights the angled Syngenta Potato Nozzle targets late season Shirlan applications onto lower leaves and stems more effectively - giving added protection against infection from foliar blight lesions spreading to tubers.

"Blight pressure remains intense this season; the BPC is warning daily that the incidence of infection is higher than ever. Getting the powerful zoospore activity of Shirlan onto lower stems and the soil surface can help to minimise the spread of disease and damage to tubers," he advises. "Wet soil conditions enable blight zoospores to move freely, making the role of Shirlan even more essential."

Mr Magri also advocates the use of Syngenta Potato Nozzles for Reglone desiccation of the crop. "The angled spray pattern has been shown to give faster and more complete desiccation of lower leaves and stems, even in vigorously growing crops," he says. Additionally, he points out the rapid action of Reglone on the lower leaves and stems will deprive blight of essential green leaf it requires to survive - quickly drying up blight lesions and further minimising build up of infective disease.

With blight pressure so high, Mr Magri advises growers to include Shirlan at the higher 0.4 l/ha rate with all Reglone applications. "Initial applications will protect any remaining green leaf, with follow-up applications when the crop canopy has been opened up, giving an additional tier of protection on the soil surface to stop zoospore movement," he says.

Yorkshire potato grower, Richard Smith, believes the angled Syngenta Potato Nozzle has proven highly beneficial in successfully controlling blight through a very difficult season. A switch to the larger 05 version of the nozzle has enabled faster forward speeds, of up to 12 km/hr, when spraying with a water volume of 200 l/ha. "We fitted the angled nozzles at the start of the potato season, and will continue with all applications right through to the end of the season," he says.

He has welcomed the nozzle's variable pressure design, which allows sprayer speed to be reduced to just 8km/hr where ground conditions are poor, without any loss in the important spray pattern quality. With 80 hectares of maincrop potatoes to cover, based at Barnburgh Grange near Doncaster, speed and gaining sufficient spray opportunities is an important issue in maintaining blight protection through the season.

"Alternating the nozzles to face forward and backwards along the spray boom has significantly reduced any drift," he reports. "We also get better coverage of the lower leaves and stems, even on dense crop canopies." This has been especially important in getting end of season Shirlan blight sprays down to the base of the plant, to minimise risk of any blight zoospores getting down to the tubers.

Mr Smith points out the complete coverage achieved by the angled nozzles is visibly demonstrated with Reglone desiccation applications, where the lower leaves and stems can be hit even with initial applications in a split-dose programme on vigorous crop canopies. The technique also proved highly effective in desiccating pea crops with Reglone, he adds.