Australia - Syngenta's new Equento Extreme canola seed treatment offers protection and more

Orders of certified canola seed for 2024 are now being taken with the choice of a new seed treatment innovation from Syngenta that offers fast-acting, long-lasting protection against early-season establishment pests, including redlegged earth mites (RLEM).

″EQUENTO^® Extreme is a seed applied insecticide offering comparable performance to market standards but what sets it apart is its superior performance against resistant RLEM populations, and ongoing resistance management benefits for enhanced sustainability, thanks to its novel mode of action,″ Syngenta ANZ Technical Manager Sean Roberts said.

Syngenta ANZ Seedcare™ Technical Manager Sean Roberts (left) and Syngenta Canada Seedcare™ Technical Lead Shad Milligan (right).

Canola growers who choose EQUENTO^® Extreme will also benefit from up to four weeks protection against aphids (including green peach aphid and grey cabbage aphid), wireworms, bronze field beetle and lucerne flea (suppression). Crop monitoring during this early establishment window should determine any need for subsequent foliar sprays of an alternate mode of action.

″Bringing a novel mode of action to canola seed treatment for the management of these establishment pests makes EQUENTO^® Extreme an important technology, practically speaking, for successful resistance management,″ Sean said.

″It’s vital for farmers to have technologies that overcome and protect against resistance to existing modes of action, especially where we’ve seen a decline in (Group 3A) SP insecticide efficacy with RLEM.″

A magnified view of redlegged earth mites (Halotydeus destructor).

EQUENTO^® Extreme, powered by PLINAZOLIN^® technology, is a combination of proven Thiamethoxam (Group 4A) and Syngenta’s newest global insecticide innovation, Isocycloseram (Group 30).

Never-before registered as a canola seed treatment, PLINAZOLIN^®(Isocycloseram) binds to the GABA receptor of the target pest, interrupting electrical signals that would ordinarily allow muscles to relax, resulting in paralysis and inability to feed. Meanwhile, Thiamethoxam interferes with the target pest’s nervous system via rapid contact and stomach action, causing them to cease feeding almost immediately.

Over a period of eight years, Syngenta assessed the crop safety of EQUENTO^® Extreme on 16 commercial canola varieties. After 63 trials there has been no negative effect on germination or crop vigour.

Mixed farmers intending to grow grain and graze varieties can introduce livestock as early as six weeks after crop emergence, in line with label requirements.

Silvering of a canola crop caused by redlegged earth mites.

Farmers are encouraged to adopt an integrated approach to the management of RLEM, including fence line weed control (habitat management), among other measures to disrupt eggs from being laid in host crops and pasture over summer. This can include strategic grazing of pastures in spring, reducing the feed on offer to RLEM. Since RLEM favour broadleaf plants, farmers can also consider rotations that disrupt the buildup of RLEM populations, or even strategic spring time insecticide applications where appropriate, following all label requirements.

Ensure your canola crop is protected next season, speak to your rural retailer about certified seed treated with EQUENTO^® Extreme to experience the benefits for yourself.