Add to residual performance with Backrow
Potato growers are juggling with fewer herbicides and lower dose rates, yet they still need to remove weed competition early and effectively. Commercial usage supported by trials data, has proven that, when mixed with residual herbicides, the specialist soil adjuvant BackRow will enhance weed control on many difficult to control weeds, allowing potato crops to emerge that much quicker and get off to a good start.
Independent trials have demonstrated the positive effects of BackRow with all the widely used pre-emergence potato herbicides, Afalon (linuron), Artist (flufenacet and metribuzin), Defy (prosulfocarb), Sencorex (metribuzin), Stomp Aqua or Cinder (pendimethalin) and also with combinations of these residual herbicides, says Alan East, Technical Manager for Interagro Ltd.
"Ever since PDQ (diquat and paraquat) has been lost to the market, growers have been struggling to get to the level of weed control they had become used to. It has become obvious that the alternative contact treatments are weaker on Annual Meadow-grass, so more reliance is being put on the remaining residuals for the control of this damaging weed. BackRow has raised the level of control of this weed in all its residual mixes, giving them that vital extra push they need," says Alan.
"Another problem that growers have had to contend is the new lower maximum dose rate for linuron of just 600 gms.ai per ha (equivalent to 1.35 l per ha for a 450 gm per litre formulation). At this low dose rate linuron has become a mixer product and its performance needs to be maximised by the inclusion of a specialist soil adjuvant such as BackRow," says Alan.
"A series of replicated trials show that the addition of BackRow to 0.5 l per ha of linuron increased the level of Annual Meadow-grass control from 87% to 94%, the level of Fat-hen control from 88% to 94%, Groundsel from 83% to 92%, Mayweed from 80% to 83% and Pale Persicaria from 75% to 83%.
Similarly when BackRow was added to 4 litres per ha of Defy, the control of Annual Meadow-grass was lifted from 91% to 95%, for Fat-hen control from 95% to 99%, Groundsel from 92% to 95%, Mayweed from 89% to 93% and Pale Persicaria from 79% to 84%. Similar additive results were seen for Artist (metribuzin and flufenacet), Sencorex (metribuzin) and for mixes of Artist plus Defy and linuron plus Defy in potatoes.
"Based on a unique blend of non-ionic surfactants, emulsifiers, sticking agents and specialist oils, BackRow has been specifically designed to optimise coverage and deposition of pre-emergence herbicides onto the soil surface. Its use ensures that its partner residual herbicide is uniformly distributed over the soil surface and is kept within the upper soil profile where the weeds are most active. It also binds the herbicide firmly onto soil particles, reducing the risk of leaching and increasing herbicide persistency," explains Alan East.
"It works with any herbicide that act through roots and shoots and also when weeds have yet to emerge. It works well on light, medium or heavy soils but is not recommended on very light soils such as coarse sands, sand, fine sand or loamy coarse sand. In the spring, BackRow is recommended at a dose rate of 400 ml/ha, irrespective of water volumes and is particularly effective at low water volumes. BackRow will also reduce the number of fine spray droplets below 100 microns, and so minimises drift and improves the spray pattern," says Alan.
BackRow is suitable for use with a range of pre-emergence herbicides in potatoes including linuron, metribuzin and prosulfocarb and also in beans including clomazone, linuron, pendimethalin, pendimethalin and imazamox and prosulfocarb. It is approved for use in potatoes, beans, peas, maize, sugar beet, cereals and oilseed rape.
