Australia
October 21, 2024
A capsicum crop at Carnarvon in Western Australia sustained significant pest damage last season before being saved with a robust, new insecticide.
Agronomist Des May, from Delta Ag, said he received a phone call from a Carnarvon grower about a month after their capsicum crop was planted.
“We went and had a look and the damage was significant. It had affected 80 to 90 per cent of the planted crop.”
There was a spectrum of pests identified, including western flower thrips. SIMODIS® insecticide, from Syngenta, had recently been released targeting mites, thrips and heliothis and so Mr May thought it might be a good option in this very challenging situation.
“We introduced SIMODIS® and had two sprays back-to-back – eight or nine days apart and it virtually took out 95 per cent of the pest,” he said.
“We’ve never seen a result like this before with anything we’ve ever played with, so that was fantastic.”
“The thrips just tear the growing tips apart. It looks like they've been hit by herbicide or a virus. After we put the two lots of SIMODIS® on, the capsicums regenerated, and they were back into action, which was fantastic.”
The damage to the crop had been of great concern to the grower and had caused quite a bit of anxiety.
“They were at their wits end, to be honest,” Mr May said. “They tried a couple of things, but they were unsuccessful. When you spray stuff that doesn't work, it gets very expensive so they were open for any input we could give. It was a great result with SIMODIS® and they were very, very happy.”
Approximately eighty per cent of Western Australia’s fruit and vegetables are grown in the Carnarvon region. The presence of hard to control pests is very worrying for growers.
“This year in Western Australia, we had a very dry, warm autumn, and the numbers were still going, where traditionally, the numbers would die right down with the cold. It was dry, a bit dusty and not pretty, Mr May said.
“The numbers were massive. Just crazy numbers - but SIMODIS® was able to control the pests.”
He said the challenge, going forward, was to ensure growers followed the label and used SIMODIS® insecticide only twice in the crop.
“We need the product to last. Growers just keep asking - what's the next one? What’s the next group we can apply to get us a similar efficacy?”
Western Australia grows many different horticultural crops including fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes, capsicums and egg fruit (eggplant) as well as berries and melons.
Mr May has been working in the industry for more than 30 years and said the chemistry and application techniques have helped control a wide range of pests.
He said much of the produce is grown in black beach sand type soil with very low organic matter and high infiltration rates.
“We know what we’ve got so we can work with it. It's very windy and it can be extremely hot in the summer, so we just have to adjust crops, adjust varieties, put up infrastructure to alleviate those issues.”
“We can grow produce 12 months of the year. There is always something in the ground.”
Click here for more information on SIMODIS® insecticide or speak with your local Syngenta representative.
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