A new sugar beet seed treatment option for improved soil and foliar pest control is now available to growers for next year's seed orders. CruiserForce seed brings together the unique combination of newly approved Cruiser SB and Force ST - with the powerful actives thiamethoxam (Cruiser SB) and tefluthrin (Force ST) co-applied to give excellent control of both foliar and soil pests of sugar beet.
CruiserForce sugar beet seed is the first opportunity for growers to experience the novel broad-spectrum insecticide, thiamethoxam. The newly approved active provides unrivalled persistent control of a wide range of foliar and soil pests of sugar beet - lasting at least 10 weeks. The bespoke combination with the specific soil pyrethroid, tefluthrin, gives additional broad-spectrum control of key sugar beet soil pests.
Announcing the launch of CruiserForce sugar beet seed, Syngenta Seed Treatments Manager, Garth Bretherton, said: "Soil and foliar insect pests cause significant seedling losses, with aphids spreading yield robbing virus. CruiserForce sugar beet seed will be the key to strong crop establishment in the drive to reach the British Sugar 70 t/ha initiative.
"The unique partnership of actives, created specifically for the sugar beet market, provides first class efficacy across the widest range of soil types and conditions." CruiserForce sugar beet seed is already grown across Europe, including Germany, Austria and Belgium.
The combination of Cruiser SB and Force ST protects seedlings from foliar insect attack through highly systemic movement of thiamethoxam within the plant, allied to tefluthrin which is recognised as giving superior control of sugar beet soil pests.
"This combination makes them the perfect partner products. The superior vapour phase activity of tefluthrin, combined with the systemic thiamethoxam, creates a total zone of protection against insect activity around the plant - above and below the soil level," adds Mr Bretherton.
Syngenta recommends that this combination should be used in conjunction with Germains' Advantage seed priming process as a simple, complete seed treatment that reduces the need for subsequent insecticide sprays. The handling characteristics and low dust formulation make it highly popular with seed treatment plant operators, and with seed drill operators in the field.
In BBRO trials, CruiserForce seed increased sugar content of beet by 1.5% and total sugar yield by 25%. The use of pyrethroid insecticides alone had no beneficial effect on sugar content or yield.
Overcoming resistance
Trials have shown that CruiserForce sugar beet seed gives effective control of all aphid strains in the field, including those resistant to carbamate and pyrethroid insecticides. BBRO researchers have reported thiamethoxam also gave good control of aphid clones that had shown tolerance to imidacloprid.
Syngenta Technical Manager, Michael Tait, reports "CruiserForce seed provides a valuable new weapon in growers' armoury to control virus carrying aphids. Its persistence will ensure high levels of aphid vector control right through the susceptible growing period for sugar beet.
"Beet Mild Yellows Virus (BMYV) has become an increasing problem across the country. No growers should underestimate the losses that can be caused, and the benefits to be derived from always having protection in place by sowing CruiserForce sugar beet seed."
He highlights that the strength of tefluthrin will prove especially valuable in areas where millipedes and soil pests are a particular problem. It will also reduce the damaging effects of wireworm, which are an increasing problem for beet growers following set-aside, potatoes and increasingly all arable rotations. In trials CruiserForce sugar beet seed has been shown to be compatible with the use of carbamate nematicides, used by growers in some areas for the control of Docking disorder.
Mr Tait adds that since both thiamethoxam and tefluthrin are effectively held in the root zone, with the thiamethoxam element continuously taken up by the plant to replenish internal protection, it works equally effectively in wet or dry soil conditions. "The Cruiser SB and Force ST combination generates outstanding control of sugar beet insect pests - yet with 33% lower active ingredient loading, compared to current standard sugar beet insecticide seed treatment."
