Nottinghamshire potato grower wins Nemathorin Maxicast to tackle spraing
Nottinghamshire potato grower Peter Savill of Thoresby Home Farm, Perlthorpe near Newark has won a Nemathorin Maxicast from Techneat Engineering, for the application of Nemathorin to tackle spraing and PCN in potato crops this spring.
Mr Savill reports spraing effects are the key problem with soil pests on the farm, with PCN also present in some fields. "We test soils regularly and apply nematicide where we see there is a risk of damage; the effects of spraing and PCN can seriously reduce yield and, most importantly, affect quality of skin finish and cause internal damage to tubers," he added.
With crops destined for the premium pre-pack trade, any visible damage on the skin finish could downgrade samples to processing value, whilst internal spraing marking - from necrosis caused by Tobacco Rattle Virus (TRV) that is spread by free living nematodes - can consign crops to stockfeed.
Since he also grows high-value carrot crops in the rotation, where nematicides are used routinely, Mr Savill is conscious that using carbamate products too frequently could give rise to enhanced degradation that would compromise the efficacy of all carbamates for nematode control. Following the approval for Nemathorin use on spraing in potato crops this season, he now has the opportunity to use a nematicide with a different mode of action, and possibly protect the value of carbamates for use in the carrot crop.
Mr Savill adds the farm's light sand soils are ideal for root crop production, including parsnips, carrots, onions and sugar beet, alongside the 120 hectares of potatoes.
The Maxicast, which has been fully approved for the application of Nemathorin this season, features a large front-linkage mounted hopper, with a rear mounted air-fan, precision metering unit and distribution head to evenly spread Nemathorin granules across the width of a rotary bed tiller. Operating immediately ahead of the potato planter, this combination achieves a consistent spread and incorporation of granules in the important zone of protection around the seed tuber.
The high capacity hopper will enable the operator to safely load-up a full day's Nemathorin granules from Surefill returnable containers before leaving the yard, avoiding awkward handling in the field and repeatedly filling small hoppers on conventional gravity fed applicators.
The Maxicast is fitted with a hard-wearing ceramic cartridge pre-calibrated for the application of Nemathorin at the approved rate of 30kg/ha for PCN and spraing control. A different cartridge can be simply replaced for application at 15kg/ha when Nemathorin is being used to counter the risk of wireworm damage.
