Elatus Plus from Syngenta will be used to help control a range of fungal diseases such as speckled leaf blotch, glume blotch, leaf rust and stripe rust in wheat.
 

Resistance to fungicides is of increasing concern to arable farmers who harvest around 400,000 tonnes of wheat each year.
 

This is used to produce high quality ingredients for the domestic food industry.
 

Without new fungicides, farmers have limited options available to them to control diseases that threaten the quality and yields of NZ’s wheat crops.
 

Elatus Plus includes the active ingredient solatenol, also known as benzovindiflupyr, which has not previously been approved under the HSNO Act, and is not a component in any existing approved formulation.
 

Fiona Thomson-Carter, general manager hazardous substances and new organisms says in determining such applications, the EPA’s decision-making committee (DMC) considers a full range of impacts on human health, the economy and NZ’s unique environment.
 

“In this instance, the DMC concluded that, when used with the assigned controls, Elatus Plus would deliver benefits to the farming community and the economy that would outweigh any risks to human health and the environment.”