Electis – the alternative for controlling Alternaria in potatoes

Gowan Comercio, new owners of the active ingredient zoxamide, are pointing out that Electis has one of the highest ratings for the control of Alternaria in potatoes as well as one of the best ratings for protectant activity and a very acceptable rating for tuber blight.

"There has been a lot of talk about the increased threat of Alternaria, or early blight, in potatoes in some varieties this season in the UK, but this disease rarely, if ever, appears in isolation. Growers tackling this new problem will need a fungicide that is not only active on Alternaria but also active on foliar and tuber blight. Growers on the European continent have been used to this multiple disease threat and have been using Electis very successfully against both early and late blight for many years," explains John Edmonds, European Technical Manager for Gowan Comercio.

John explains "In the Euroblight ratings Electis has a two and half star efficacy rating for Alternaria solani and Alternaria alternata (in a three star rating system), above all other mancozeb containing products on the market."

He explains that although Electis doesn’t have approval for Alternaria in the UK as yet, it does have full label approval in some European countries including France and the Netherlands where this disease has been a significant disease for many years. "Of all the products registered for the control of potato late blight, Electis shows the best efficacy against potato early blight."

He reports that trials in Germany, The Netherlands and Northern France have given excellent results with Electis and in particular six trials in Spain resulted in over 70% control of Alternaria.

"The continental climate favours early blight caused by Alternaria over late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans and, if our temperatures continue to rise with global warming, we are likely to see more Alternaria in our crop. Realistically however applying a fungicide solely for the control of Alternaria is just not practical or indeed cost-effective. You need a fungicide that has excellent activity against both late and early blight plus proven activity against foliar and tuber blight and Electis is the only product that delivers all this," says John Edmonds.