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When used together there’s two Syngenta fungicides that have the capacity to save many hours of tractor time among the vines in the fight against powdery mildew and downy mildew.
REVUS alone has already earned its place in many programs for routine protection against downy mildew because of its length of control and efficacy when compared to traditional applications.
But the combination of REVUS with Syngenta’s new powdery mildew fungicide MIRAVIS has demonstrated even greater residual protection of sprayed plant material and with it the capacity to save even more time.
“One of the key things we picked up from our trial work with MIRAVIS, moving forward, is that when combined with REVUS we’re getting 14 to 21 days of residual protection against two key viticultural diseases, those being downy mildew and powdery mildew,” Syngenta technical services lead Scott Mathew said.
Trialed at many locations across Australia, the recently-registered Group 7 fungicide MIRAVIS demonstrated strong efficacy against powdery mildew when compared to other fungicides under different and challenging seasonal growing conditions.
“As a grower you can have confidence that when you apply MIRAVIS and REVUS before EL-19, it’s going to give you peace of mind and confidence that you’re going to get a minimum of 14 days protection and up to 21 days protection of treated plant material,” Scott said.
Syngenta brought REVUS to the market in 2011 and it has fast become the go-to fungicide for many growers facing high downy mildew disease pressure with it being highly efficacious.
REVUS binds quickly to the waxy cuticle of the leaf and moves through the leaf surface, a feature of the chemistry Syngenta calls the LOK+FLO action.
This makes REVUS completely rainfast unlike some traditional protectant fungicides including mancozeb, copper, captan and metiram.
It’s this rainfastness that helps protect against downy mildew infection for up to 21 days.
This mode of action offers disease prevention leading up to and during the critical flowering period. It also offers growers a superior option during capfall because, unlike the traditional protectant fungicides, REVUS has translaminar movement to better protect the developing berry.
Scott said REVUS was as much a powerful time management tool as a fungicide.
“The fact that REVUS does offer up to 21 days of rainfast-protection means that once it’s dried, grape growers can go and do any other job they want to do in the vineyard without having to worry about downy mildew,” he said.
Near Yenda in NSW, Maxsons Vineyard manager Steve Brown embraced REVUS as part of his program when it was new to the market.
It remains part of his program being a welcome alternative to traditional control methods, saving both time and money.
“It’s actually cheaper than other products to use because of its success rate and how [little] you use,” he said.
“It frees my time up to look for disease.”
Steve said the savings quickly added up.
“If I’m in the tractor I don’t have time to get out and look for disease, but now I’ve got more time to get into my vines to look for disease, as well as concentrate on irrigation and do other jobs around the vineyard,” he said.
“Less sprays means less fuel, less spent on wages and less wear and tear on machinery and more time to do other jobs around the vineyard, so it saves us a lot of money.”
Considering these benefits Steve said there was a lot to like about REVUS.
“I would recommend REVUS because it is so easy to use, farmer-friendly and mixes well in the spray tank,” he said.
“There’s no residue left in the tank when the tank is empty so you know all the chemical has gone out.”
Introducing MIRAVIS, Syngenta Territory Head – Australasia, Paul Luxton, said it was another example of Syngenta bringing innovative new technology to the Australian market to benefit local growers.
“MIRAVIS is a global product that we have tried and tested under Australian conditions,” he said.
“This focus on local research and development delivers to Australian growers a world-class solution that is locally relevant.
“This is part of our broader focus of being a research and development leader is Australia to help growers produce crops more efficiently with greater yield outcomes.”