Published on 22/06/2021
Fast-acting and long-lasting, Belanty is a breakthrough DMI fungicide with a unique chemical structure that gives excellent control against powdery mildew in wine and table grapes, black spot and powdery mildew in apples and black spot in pears.
“Belanty is an exciting advance in crop protection, giving growers more confidence and flexibility in producing top quality fruit that meets strict market specifications,” said Serge Usatov, Horticulture portfolio manager at BASF Australia and NZ. “With so many factors beyond our control, Belanty sets a new benchmark for DMI chemistry and has also been formulated specifically to meet today’s consumer and environmental expectations.”
Belanty has fast plant uptake, resulting in excellent rainfastness. Its active ingredient is slowly released into the leaf tissue, which gives longer residual activity. Importantly, maximum residue limits (MRLs) have already been approved for Belanty in key export markets, such as the EU.
“Belanty is the only DMI fungicide of its type and features innovative chemistry that enables it to bind tightly to fungal pathogens within the plant cells. You only get one chance a year at growing a profitable crop, so you want to get it right,” added Usatov.
Belanty’s active ingredient mefentrifluconazole is a new molecule created by BASF. “The molecule’s ability to change shape means it can control pathogen strains that have reduced sensitivity to traditional DM fungicides,” said Tim Herman, senior technical services specialist at BASF NZ. “All other DMI molecules to date have rigid structures, but mefentrifluconazole is flexible and adaptable. With DMI resistance developing worldwide, this is a critical characteristic that will help producers better manage their spray programs to reduce the risk of resistance and assist in prolonging the efficacy of existing fungicide chemistry.”
For grapes, a maximum of two applications per season of Belanty at 80 ml per 100 litres water is recommended as part of a completed disease control program for powdery mildew. Belanty must be applied to grapes as a preventative disease spray progamme, prior to disease infection periods.
The same rate (80 ml per 100 litres water) is used for black spot and powdery mildew control in apples and black spot in pears. Up to four applications, (with a maximum of two consecutive applications) can be made between green-tip and 80 per cent petal fall (the withholding period).
All Belanty applications in apples and pears should be tank-mixed with a fungicide from another mode-of-action group. As with any Group 3 fungicide, it is important to rotate chemistry groups to reduce disease resistance in the crop, per the NZ Committee for Pesticide Resistance DMI strategy.
For more detail, visit crop-solutions.basf.co.nz.