Agrochemical Updates


Agrochemical Update June 2009

The AWRI publication Agrochemicals registered for use in Australian viticulture 2009/2010 is now available.

Major changes in the 2009/2010 Dog Book

1. Active constituents

None of the active constituents have been removed. However, methoxyfenozide (insecticide) and pine oil (herbicide) have been added.

METHOXYFENOZIDE

APVMA 61605

Prodigy has been granted registration by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority for the control of light brown apple moth in grapevines.

Prodigy is a Dow AgroSciences product. It contains the active constituent methoxyfenozide which is a Group 16A insecticide.

Prodigy (methoxyfenozide) now replaces Mimic (tebufenozide). However, tebufenozide remains in the 2009/2010 booklet as existing stocks are still registered for use in viticulture.

Restriction on use for export grapes: Use no later than 80% capfall.

PINE OIL

APVMA 62367

BioWeed has been granted registration by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority for the control of weeds in vineyards

BioWeed is a Certified Organics (Australia) product. BioWeed is a contact herbicide, containing the active constituent pine oil for which the activity group is unspecified.

2. Restrictions on use

The major change to note is the recommended export withholding period for procymidone.

The 2009/2010 restriction on the use of products which contain the active constituent procymidone is “Not recommended for use on grapes destined for export wines”.

3. Content – changes to the fungicide activity group codes

The main additions in content in the three sets of tables in the Dog Book are a result of changes to the fungicide activity group codes.

CropLife Australia has changed the activity group codes for fungicides to bring them in line with International codes. None of the groupings change, they have simply been assigned a new code. Chemical companies have three years in which to change their product labels to reflect these new codes so it is expected that there will be a mix of old (pre 2009) and new (from 2009) activity group codes for fungicide products over the next two years. Therefore, we have made changes to Table 1. Recommendations, Table 2. Agrochemicals registered for use in Australian viticulture and Table 3. Fungicide resistance management strategies

Recommendations: The activity group codes for all active constituents have been added to this table. Only the old (pre 2009) activity group codes for fungicides have been added because most product labels do not reflect these changes as yet. Due to a space restriction we have replaced activity codes that are unspecified with n/a.

Agrochemicals registered for use in Australian viticulture: Both the old (pre 2009) and new (from 2009) activity codes for fungicides are displayed in this table.

Fungicide resistance management strategies: CropLife Australia have re-written the resistance management strategies for botrytis, downy mildew and powdery mildew which replaces the old (pre 2009) fungicide activity group codes with the new (from 2009) codes. To make it easier to develop an appropriate spray program which takes into account the three fungicide resistance management strategies we have provided the corresponding old (pre 2009) activity group codes until all product labels have been updated.

4. Permits

APVMA: Permit number 11015

Permit 11015 replaces permit 10127. Permit 11015 currently issued by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, allows the use of Sumi-Alpha Flex (containing 50 g/L esfenvalerate as its only active constituent) for the control of Garden weevil in grapevines grown in Tasmania and Western Australia. This permit expires on 28 August 2009.

Restriction on use for export grapes: Use no later than 80% capfall.

For other permit information visit the AWRI agrochemical website http://www.awri.com.au/industry_support/viticulture/agrochemicals/

5. AWRI Online Search Facility for Agrochemicals.

The AWRI has developed an ‘Online Search Facility for Agrochemicals’ which provides a searchable web-based format, delivering a more efficient way of retrieving agrochemical information currently available on the AWRI website.

Using this facility, users can rapidly access information contained in the current AWRI publication Agrochemicals registered for use in Australian viticulture (often called the ‘Dog Book’). It also provides additional information derived from the AWRI agrochemical database which is not published in the Dog book.

The new AWRI Online Search Facility for Agrochemicals can be accessed by visiting the agrochemical section of the AWRI website http://www.awri.com.au/agrochemicals/

6. Other agrochemical issues
‘Sunscreen’ products do not require APVMA registration.
Due to another hot and dry season, the use of products such as Surround and Screen were being considered as a way of reducing leaf temperatures relative to ambient temperatures.

Surround and Screen as protectants against sunburn and heat stress are not required to be registered by the APVMA and there is no State or Territory legislation regulating their use. The registration process is governed by Commonwealth legislation. The agricultural chemical products that require registration encompasses all herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and growth regulators. It does not include products such as Surround and Screen because they do not fit the definition of an ‘agricultural chemical product’ (For more information on this definition go to http://www.apvma.gov.au/registration/chemreg.shtml). Therefore, Surround and Screen can be used on grapevines despite the fact that grapevines do not appear on the label. Given the nature of the product, residues might be present at harvest, especially in the case of late season applications. We do not know if this will have any impact on the winemaking process and final wine quality. It is advised that you contact your winery or grape purchaser prior to application of these products


This information is provided to inform the wine industry of agrochemical product information, and should not be interpreted as an endorsement.