Syngenta Australia - Strategic resistance management moves with CHESS^® insecticide

Recent reports of control failures for silverleaf whitefly and resistance to spirotetramat (Group 23) in some green peach aphid populations in Queensland have many growers on the lookout for different rotation options.

Syngenta Technical Manager Rob Vitelli said for a while now there have been issues controlling green peach aphid using some of the older chemistry like synthetic pyrethroids, carbamates, organophosphates and neonicotinoids.

Syngenta Technical Manager, Rob Vitelli, in the field training advisors and growers in the need to rotate chemistry to avoid resistance.

″Syngenta’s CHESS^® insecticide has been around since 2001 but remains a great option in insecticide rotations for control of aphids and suppression of whitefly,″ said Mr Vitelli.

In a trial completed around 18 months ago, CHESS^® insecticide (Group 9B) recorded excellent control of green peach aphid (GPA) in capsicums in the Granite Belt, Queensland.

″A single application of CHESS^® insecticide recorded 90% control of GPA. Two applications seven days apart, recorded 94% control of GPA,″ said Mr Vitelli.

″The pest pressure in the trial was high too, increasing from 20 to around 80 aphids per leaf in the untreated control.″

Excellent results were also recorded with CHESS^® insecticide in a silverleaf whitefly (SLW) trial in gourmet tomatoes earlier this year in Bundaberg, Queensland.

″In the Bundaberg trial we saw 65% suppression of SLW nymphs with CHESS^® insecticide at the final assessment, that was 20% better than a Group 23 insecticide in the same trial,″ said Mr Vitelli.

″We know CHESS^® insecticide doesn’t have activity on later instar stages of SLW, but this trial demonstrated that if you get your application timing right and target SLW adults when they come into the crop you can reduce adult numbers which then reduces egg lay and nymph numbers over time.″

Mr Vitelli said monitoring is key to getting application timing right for CHESS^® insecticide. Growers need to follow local thresholds and apply just as insect populations are beginning to establish.

″Good coverage is also very important and to get the best out of the product avoid applications in the heat of the day,″ said Mr Vitelli.

″It’s also important to continue with your monitoring and reapply if required no less than 7-days later.″

Mr Vitelli said CHESS^® insecticide has a really good IPM fit, making it a valuable tool to be applied earlier in the crop to allow beneficial insects to establish.

CHESS^® insecticide works by contact and ingestion and studies have shown that feeding by insect pests ceases within one hour. It has translaminar activity and can reach both sides of the leaf. CHESS^® insecticide is a wettable granule (WG) formulation and is easy to handle and store. It is registered in all key brassica and fruiting vegetable crops as well as lettuce, leafy vegetables, cucurbits, potatoes, sweet corn, celery, stone fruit, beetroot, almonds, pistachios, cut flowers, fruit trees (non-bearing) and nursery stock (non-food).

″With a unique 9B mode of action CHESS^® insecticide really complements other chemistries and takes the pressure off products like MINECTO^® Forte insecticide used for control of aphids, whiteflies and lepidopteran pests,″ said Mr Vitelli.

″CHESS^® insecticide is robust and versatile choice in an environment where growers increasingly need as many rotation options as possible.″